More Than a Dream
by Kenaz Astaroth
Summary: Sirius rescues Harry from the Dursleys when Harry is only eight years old. Story continues on from there. **on hiatus**
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer:  I don't own anything you recognise.  It belongs to JK Rowling.

More than a Dream 

By Kenaz Astaroth

Chapter 1: Screams and Runaways

Vernon Dursley awoke on November 2nd of 1981 to a loud scream coming from his front porch.  He ran down the stairs to where he could see his wife, Petunia Dursley, standing in the front doorway looking down at a blanketed bundle while holding her left hand tightly to her chest.

"What?  What is it?"  he asked, his voice vaguely panicky.

Petunia spun around sharply and Vernon could see that she was breathing hard, but the expression on her face was angry.  Very angry.  "It's him.  That boy of my sister's."

Vernon scowled, "And why, exactly, would he be here?"  There was a menacing tone to his voice that many people knew could result in being fired, or having your computer thrown from a 15th-story window.

"There's a note," replied Petunia, as she turned her head to glare hatefully at the boy, who lay gazing curiously at her and her husband, "but I haven't had time to read it yet."

"I see."  Vernon looked at the child – _Harry was he called?_ – as if he wished he could incinerate the boy on the spot.  "I suppose you should bring him in," he said grudgingly, "then we'll see what this note says."

Petunia picked the child up roughly and grabbed the note.  Harry squirmed against this new discomfort but stilled when she held him tightly, almost too tightly for him to breathe.  She took him into the dining room, following after her husband.  After setting the boy down on the table, she gave the letter to Vernon, who opened it with the air of one opening a cage to a thousand very, very angry kraits.

_Dear Mr. and Mrs. Dursley,_

_I am afraid that I have some bad news.  You see, last night a wizard came to Godric's Hollow where Lily and James were staying.  He was a Dark wizard and responsible for many Deaths, as well as for the war that has gone on in the wizarding world for these past few years.  He came to kill the Potter family.  He succeeded in killing both Lily and James, for which I offer my deepest condolences, but he could not kill Harry.  In the world of magic, there is a curse known as Avada Kedavra, or the Killing curse.  It is absolutely fatal and there is no known way to block it.  However, not only did young Harry block the curse, he somehow managed to reflect it back on its caster.  I am quite happy to say, that Voldemort, the Dark wizard, has been defeated by young Mr. Potter._

_Now, the reason I wish for you to know this is because I have now put young Harry into your custody.  He shall be very famous, and I think it is best for him to grow up away from the influences of such things.  I know that you, as his last living relatives, will be more than happy to take him._

_Harry will, of course, be attending Hogwarts shortly after his 11th birthday.  As a wizard he will sometimes cause mysterious things to happen when he is angry or upset.  Don't worry, this is perfectly normal. _

Vernon snorted derisively at this, as if anything to do with those – those – people could be considered normal. 

_I trust that you will tell him about his past when you feel he is ready. I am enclosing a further letter, which I would like him to receive, explaining many things that are common knowledge to most wizards._

_With thanks and best regards,_

_Albus Dumbledore_

Vernon and Petunia Dursley merely looked at each other for several moments before Vernon made his decision.   He carefully ripped both letters to shreds and threw them in the wastebasket near the kitchen doorway.  "We'll take care of him all right," he said softly, in a menacing tone that Harry would come to dread, "but the boy won't enjoy it, that's for certain."

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Slightly less than 7 years later, a month before Harry's 8th birthday…

Harry was walking home.  It was the last day of school for the year, but while most of the kids around him were celebrating, Harry was doing anything but.  He knew that there was a beating coming.  There always was, as far back as he could remember.  But today's beating would be different.  It was the beginning of summer holidays and Harry would not have to go anywhere for the next couple months.  That meant that Vernon could beat him unreservedly.  As long as Harry was healed before school the next year, then Vernon would get no trouble from anyone.  For as long as Harry didn't have any visible injuries, no one would be able to tell what went on at the Dursley home, and Harry would never tell anyone.  He had learned that lesson early enough.

Flashback…

_"Boy!" yelled Vernon, for never would Harry address him as Uncle.  At least, not in his mind he wouldn't._

_"Yes?"_

_"Don't you take that insolent tone with me boy!  You know exactly what I want!"_

_Harry was, quite frankly, clueless to what Vernon was on about.  He had a feeling though, that whatever it was, wasn't good._

_"Guess who called me earlier today, boy."  Harry said nothing and merely continued looking at him blankly, his body tensing in apprehension.  "Answer me, damn it!"_

_Harry started, "I don't know, Uncle Vernon," he replied meekly.  Even at 4 years old he knew better than to talk back to his uncle._

_"Your school nurse called," sneered Vernon coldly.  "Do you have any idea what she said?"_

_Harry's dread was clear on his face now, "No, sir, Uncle Vernon."_

_"She said you had bruises.  Now, how would she know if you had them, hmm?"_

_"I don't know, Uncle Vernon."_

_"BULLSHIT you don't know!" shouted Vernon.  "You TOLD her didn't you!?  You TOLD her!"  Vernon was holding Harry up against the wall by his neck now.  He couldn't breathe.  His glasses, they had fallen, he couldn't see…  "You will Never. Tell. Anyone. That. We. Beat. You." Vernon was punctuating his blows with punches now.  Harry was small for his age, always had been, and Vernon was no pixie._

_"Y-yes, U-uncle V-V-Vernon, s-s-sir," coughed Harry.  He knew he would never be able to tell anyone.  Ever._

Harry shuddered.  That had been one of his worst beatings.  Granted, there had been no broken bones. There never were, since Vernon didn't fancy paying the hospital bills; but every part of his body that could be hidden by clothing had been covered with bruises for days afterward.   He wondered if the same would be true today.  He sighed.  Well, if it was going to be bad then he wasn't going to hurry the process.  Harry dragged his feet slower.

When Harry finally did get home, he was surprised to find that neither his fat cousin nor his Aunt and Uncle were home.  He wondered if they had left a door unlocked.  He doubted it; they never cared if he was locked outside.  They often enjoyed watching him try to find shelter from the rain.  And today was sunny, no reason to worry about being outside.

As it were, the kitchen door was unlocked.  Harry went inside, being sure not to get a speck of dirt inside the house.  He went to his cupboard.  He didn't know when his family, if you could call them that, would be home.  There would be no sense in letting them catch him doing something he shouldn't.  Not that that left him with much to do.  He decided that he would steal one of Dudley's books again.  No one ever noticed when he did that.

He grabbed a book from Dudley's second bedroom, and went into his cupboard to read it.  This was a good one.  Filled with witches and wizards and magic.  He sighed, _if only it were real…_

There was a loud bang as Vernon threw open the door to let himself and his family inside.  Harry scrambled to put the book under his mattress, making sure it wasn't visible.  He panicked slightly when he heard Vernon's voice call out. Vernon was most definitely not in a good mood.  And when Vernon was in a bad mood, Harry was usually the one to pay for it.

"Boy!  Are you in here, boy?"

Harry crawled out of his cupboard apprehensively.  This was going to be bad.  He flinched when Vernon grabbed him immediately after he exited the cupboard.  Vernon wasted no time, like he usually did.  Harry wondered vaguely as to what he had supposedly done this time.

"I was fired today, boy!  Do you know why that is?  They said that I wasn't working hard enough.  They said that they couldn't afford to have a useless worker."  Harry was whimpering already, Vernon wasn't holding back at all.  He had never been beaten this hard before.  "I don't know how you did it, boy.  But you're going to pay.  I'll make you wish you had never been born."

Petunia and Dudley were watching.  They rarely ever watched when Vernon took his difficulties out on Harry, but today they were apparently in agreement with him.  And they were enjoying the show.

This went on for several minutes.  Vernon continued to hit him much harder than Harry was used to.  And then Vernon hit him just right, a rib cracked.  And apparently, so did Harry's self-control.

Harry didn't understand what happened.  Suddenly, instead of just being beaten and yelled at, he was pulled into a maelstrom of emotions and thoughts, fear, hatred, jealousy, anger, and so many other things besides.  This was too much, he couldn't bear it anymore.  He wanted to get away from it.  He wanted it all to go away.  So he pushed.  The beating stopped and a second later there were three loud thuds as the Dursleys hit the wall across from the side of the sitting room where Harry was leaning against the doorway.

Harry stared at where his relatives lay unconscious.  Then he did the only thing he could think to do.  He ran.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

In Azkaban…

Cold, always cold.  It had been cold for years.  Ever since the public had decided that Sirius must have been the Potter's secret keeper.  And the memories.  All of those awful memories.

_Dead… James lay on the ground, his eyes open and glassy…  His glasses, where were his glasses?  James couldn't see without his glasses, where were they?… There, James has his glasses.  Now if only he would stand up.  If only he would start breathing…  He's not dead, can't be dead.  Come on, stand up!  Tell me it was all a joke, James.  Please tell me that it was a joke… _

_ Lily…  Where's Lily?  There.  She looks like James.  Her eyes, they're clouded.  So green, that brilliant green, glassy in death.  No fear though…  Everyone else he had ever seen who had had Avada Kedavra cast on them had had terror all over their faces.  Not James and Lily though.  No, they look calm… and determined.  Yes, they knew what was coming, but they didn't go down without a fight.  _

_Crying?  Who's crying?…  Harry?!  Hagrid?  "Hagrid, give Harry to me.  I'm his godfather, I'll take care of him."_

_"Can't," his voice is cracking.  He's crying.  Why aren't I crying?  They were my friends, I should cry for them, but I can't… not yet.  "Dumbledore's orders.  He's to live with his aunt and uncle."_

_"But-"_

_"Freeze!"  Ministry wizards.  Are they talking to me?  I haven't-  NO!  I didn't do it!  It was Peter!  I swear!  I would die before-, "You are under arrest for the betrayal of Lily and James Potter, and for conspiring against the Ministry of Magic as a member of the Death Eaters."_

_Too much.  I can't…  I didn't…  They believe Peter.  They believe a rat.  Too much.  I'll laugh or I'll cry…  but I can't cry.  Not yet.  Hagrid.  He looks at me, and there is anger and betrayal in his face.  He hates me.  But it was Peter!  Have to laugh, or have to cry.  But I can't cry.  Not yet.  So I'll laugh…_

His worst memory.  When he first came to Azkaban, that was all he had seen for weeks, months even.  He hoped Harry was okay.  He hoped he was happy.  He hoped that his godson didn't know about him.  He hoped his godson didn't think him a traitor.  He didn't think that he could stand it if he did.  But if Harry was unhappy…  Sirius had promised himself many times that, if word came to him that Harry was unhappy, he would leave.  He would rescue his godson.  Dementors or no dementors.  Thinking of Harry was the only thing that kept him sane.

On an island near the Orkneys, in a cold prison cell, a large black dog laid his head on his paws and slept.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Harry was tired, and hungry.  It was exactly a week since he had thrown the Dursley family across the room.  A week since he had run away.  He didn't know where he was, only that there were no people for miles.  He had finally figured out what his new abilities were.  Or at least, he had figured out some of what they did.  He could read minds, and sense them for at least two kilometers all the way around.  He could move things with a thought.  And sometimes, if he was really close to someone, a vision would come.   A vision of that person's past.  Naturally he didn't know exactly what these abilities were.  But then again, he was more concerned with being able to walk around people without hearing every single one of their most private thoughts.  There were some things that a seven-year-old boy just did not want to know.

He heard a soft voice by his ankle.  Strangely sibilant, the voice was.  He looked down and was surprised to see a small snake had curled itself around his calf.

Ssspeaker, the snake said, drawing out his – for Harry knew, somehow, that it was a male- esses.

Yes? he asked.   Harry wondered briefly as to why he could understand the snake at all.  Perhaps the loneliness and isolation were finally getting to him.

The snake seemed to smile, then slithered up Harry's body until he was loosely wrapped around Harry's neck.  I am Otean, ssspeaker.

Why do you call me that?

Becaussse that isss what you are, a ssspeaker.  A true born ssspeaker, asss there hasss never been before.

Harry was deeply puzzled.  What was the snake talking about?  What do you mean? he asked carefully.

It'sss not my placcce- Otean started…

Suddenly there were five pops and Harry was surrounded.  He hadn't been near enough to people to hear their thoughts for several days.  Otean's thoughts had not been audible to him, nor had any of the other animals'.  The suddenness of it, and the sheer amount of information now pounding its way through his brain made him collapse, temporarily trapped within his own mind and the minds of others.  He scarcely noticed as Otean slithered carefully into his rather threadbare jacket.

_Aurors… Magic.  It's real?  Yes… Hogwarts.  A school… Voldemort…  You-Know-Who, but I don't know who… Death Eaters…  Worried?  About me?… Famous?… defeated Voldemort… Muggles… spells… curses… Floo powder… Ministry of Magic… Diagon Alley… Obliviate…Accio… Sneakoscopes… cauldrons…potions… Albus Dumbledore…  _and then a name.  A name that went with the face of one of the Aurors surrounding him.

_Peter Pettigrew._

The name brought on more visions than Harry could comprehend at once.  Visions of people.  _James, his father.   Lily, his mother.  Remus Lupin?  Werewolf?  Life-bondings?  Animals, a  stag, a rat, a werewolf,  and a dog.  A man called Sirius Black who could turn into a dog and back at will.  His godfather.  Who was innocent in a prison.  The prison was cold, dark.  And hooded creatures, dementors, who sucked happy memories out of one's mind.  And Sirius Black was innocent.  For the very mind of Peter Pettigrew said that it was he that was guilty._

_"Peter, we'd like you to be our Secret Keeper."_

_Peter looked at Lily and James in shock.  Surely, _surely_ they would use Sirius.  Why him?  Of course they didn't know, nobody knew.  Not a thing……._

_"Wormtail."_

_"Yes, Master?"_

_"Do you have news?"_

_"Yes."_

_"And?"  the voice was impatient.  The voice that went to a skeletal black-haired man with crimson eyes…_

_"They have made me their Secret Keeper, my Lord."_

_The red-eyed man, _Voldemort, _smiled.  "Come.  You will show me where they are hiding.  We leave now."_

_Peter stood up and apparated with his master to a house.  Harry couldn't see the house clearly.  It was too dark.  Voldemort walked inside.  Harry heard voices…_

_"Lily, it's him!  Take Harry and run.  I'll hold him off."_

_Bright flash of green light…_

_"Stand aside you foolish girl!  Stand aside!"_

_"No please, not Harry.  I'll do anything.  Take me instead."_

_Another flash of green light._

_"Well, now.  Look here.  You're just a child.  Just a miserable little brat.  This will prove those prophecies wrong.  You will never defeat me."_

_Another flash of green light.  And then a white light.  One that got brighter and brighter until Peter couldn't see, he had to turn away.  And then the screams.  One long pain-filled shriek that sounded as if it was being forcibly torn from a man's throat.  Peter watched as the cosy little house fell apart, brick by brick.  And he watched as a small bubble, which was a standard house protection charm, holding a child, floated to the ground.  Similar bubbles, though larger, pulled the bodies of Lily and James out of the rubble.  There was no sign of his master or his body, however._

_Suddenly, Peter could hear the roar of what sounded like Sirius' motorbike coming from the distance.  Peter knew that he shouldn't be found here.  Couldn't be found here.  Sirius would kill him, he knew.  And right now, Peter did not want to die.  So he transformed into a rat and hid in the pile of loose boards and stones that had once been the Potters' house.  And he watched._

_He watched as Sirius came in for a landing and stumbled over to where James lay.  He watched Sirius place James' glasses on his face while begging James to get up.  To say that it was all a joke.  He watched as Sirius ran to Lily's body.  And he watched when Hagrid told Sirius that he couldn't have Harry.  And then the Aurors appeared.  They arrested Sirius for the crimes that Peter himself had committed and he inwardly cheered.  Now, he could stay in the world.  Make a respectable living.  And now Sirius, the only other person who knew of his guilt, was to be locked away.  And the rat left.  And if he had been in human form there would have been a satisfied smirk on his face._

Harry opened his eyes and saw the faces of three men and two women looking down at him in concern.  Then he fainted.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Harry woke just as the Aurors reached the Dursleys.   Harry felt the minds of all the people in the neighbourhood pressing into his, and in desperation he envisioned a wall around his mind.  _It worked! _ Now he couldn't hear anyone's thoughts and he wasn't getting visions from people's memories either.  Harry breathed a sigh of relief before he remembered where they were taking him.

_No, no, no!_  They couldn't send him back!  Not after what he'd done.  The Dursleys would be furious for sure.  It would be worse than when he was found on the school rooftops and when he turned his teacher's wig blue.  And they were going to send him back?  Harry stifled a whimper.  It would be worse for him if he told, he knew that.  And he really wanted to get away from the man who betrayed his parents.

The Aurors brought him up to the door of number 4 Privet Drive and then they all left except one.  He remembered her mind saying that her name was Tarra.  And that she was an…  Invisibility Primary?  Harry pondered this statement as Tarra rang the Dursley's doorbell.  He didn't want to take down the wall around his mind just to find out what this meant.  Then Vernon answered the door and Harry brought his mind to more pressing matters.

"Ah, yes, you brought him back," Tarra missed the flash of anger and hatred in Vernon's eyes as he said this, though Harry did not, "Thank you so much.  We were very worried about him."

Harry widened his eyes incredulously.  Surely, surely, this woman wouldn't believe him.  The mocking tone and insincerity in Vernon's voice were plain as day!

"You're very welcome, Mr. Dursley.  Now, Harry, you must promise that you won't run away from your uncle again alright?"  she ruffled Harry's hair in a friendly way, while Harry muttered darkly about people always treating him like a two-year-old under his breath.

"Well, boy?  Come on in," said Vernon, still keeping his forcefully polite façade.   Harry stepped inside with a little shudder, and flinched as Vernon shut the door.  He held nothing but dread for what was coming.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Sirius's eyes snapped open and for a moment he was puzzled, why couldn't he feel the cold and sorrow that was Azkaban?  Then he heard it again.

_::Sirius!::_

A mind call, it must be.  That explained why he didn't feel the dementors.  No one using telepathy was affected by dementors.  But who would want to talk with him?

_::Sirius?  Padfoot!::_

There were definite overtones of pain in the mind-voice now.  He answered back _::Who are you?::_

Sirius imagined that if he were in the presence of the person who was talking to him then he would hear him whimpering in pain.  The answer he got to his question shook him to the core.

_::Harry Potter::_


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer:  I own nothing that you recognise.

Chapter 2    Wands, Birthdays, and Rescues

For a long time Sirius was absolutely speechless.  He was shocked.  Then he was angry; who could have hurt Harry?  If he ever found out, he'd…  He felt the link weakening and grabbed at it desperately.

_::Harry!:: _he called out, panicking.  Surely this was a strain for Harry, as obviously untrained as he was.  And from what was surely a long distance, when he was hurt, no less.  Not to mention…  How could Harry have gotten around the wards of Azkaban?  He'd have to be a Secondary.  But that meant…_::Harry, where are you?  Are you alright?  What's happened?  Why did you call me?::_  He was babbling, he knew.  But there were so many questions he needed to ask, and Harry needed to tell him everything.

_::Padfoot, I…::  _Harry's mind-voice was weak and he seemed unsure of where to start or even if he was allowed to speak at all.

_::Harry, I want you to tell me everything.  Why have you called me?  Do you know who I am?::_

Suddenly Sirius' mind flooded with images.  The Dursleys, the beatings, how Harry knew that their treatment of him was not normal, what had happened when Vernon was fired, and the happenings of the past week. Peter, and how Harry had inadvertently used his Soul-Searcher ability to see his betrayal of the Potters, and his knowledge of Sirius.  Then the link dropped.  It didn't break, for Sirius wasn't being affected by the dementors and he could feel it there still, but Harry was unconscious, that much was certain.

Another thing that was certain was that Sirius was more pissed than a particularly stuck-up hippogriff that had just been insulted for hours and hours upon end.  Consequently, the steel door to Sirius's cell exploded into pieces the size of toothpicks and then spontaneously combusted.

Sirius stared at the place where the supposedly magic-proof door had once stood in shock.  He shook it off quickly, however, and wasted no time in running out the door and past the dementors in his dog form.  He travelled through the maze that was Azkaban on little more than instinct alone.  Eventually he reached the barred gate that was the one entrance and exit to the building.  He ran outside and shuddered as fresh air hit him for the first time in years.  He took a deep breath that for once did not smell of death and decay and then started off at a lope towards the iron bars that encircled the island.  He slipped through, astounded at how thin he had really become, and stood on the five-foot wide ledge between the bars and the cliff that towered fifteen meters over the sea.  He looked down and hesitated for little more than a second, and then jumped into the icy depths.  His last thoughts before he had to concentrate completely on getting to the mainland without drowning were, 'Hang on, Harry, I'm coming.'

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Harry lay in his cupboard.  It had been nearly two weeks since he had been brought back to the Dursleys, and nearly two weeks since he had spoken to Padfoot.  Not that he hadn't tried to do it again, it just seemed that he couldn't reach him.  Or as if he was too tired to find him.  He shifted and gasped at the pain that shot through his body.  He stilled, remembering not to jostle his ribs or his leg, and slowly reached over to the bowl of soup that his aunt had told him would be his meal today.

He recalled the beating that had come after he had been brought back and shuddered.  He had found himself unable to throw them back as he had done before, which meant that he had had to endure the entire thing.  Vernon had been furious, to put it mildly.  Been so mad that he would have revelled in beating Harry to death repeatedly might be closer.  He certainly hadn't hesitated in breaking Harry's leg, or most of his other ribs.

And now it was midnight, or sometime close to that, and Harry was hungry.  He hadn't eaten more than a sparse meal a day since he had got back, and the Dursleys had forgotten today's meal entirely.  He pushed at the door of the cupboard with his mind but it didn't budge.  He sighed.  He hadn't really expected it to work, but it would have been nice if it had.

Suddenly he heard the front door open.  It sounded as though someone was trying to make as little noise as possible, but he heard it squeak anyways.  He reached out with his mind carefully, then nearly cried in joy.

_::Harry?:: _he heard.  The voice was quiet, tired, and very cautious, but still recognizable as the voice he knew as Padfoot, or Sirius Black.

_::In here:: _he replied, sending an image of a cupboard, and the way to it from the front door.  He listened to quiet footsteps coming towards where he lay, then waited silently while Sirius fumbled with the lock.  It opened slowly, as Sirius was being mindful of creaks once more.  Then he got his first look at his godfather.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Sirius looked inside the cupboard, anger radiating throughout his body.  What kind of people left a child to sleep inside a cupboard?  It did little more than strengthen his resolve to take Harry away from this place.  He then caught sight of his godson and he drew his breath in a sharp gasp.  Harry looked, quite frankly, like hell.  What little Sirius could see was covered in bruises and painfully thin.  He also saw that Harry refrained from moving or breathing hard or unevenly.  He forcefully restrained himself from going up the stairs and murdering the Dursleys.  Barely.  He spoke into Harry's mind, for the sake of silence and privacy, and to make sure Harry wasn't lying.  One can't lie mind to mind.

_:: Where are you hurt?::  _he asked.

_::My leg, and my chest::  _he heard in answer, getting an impression of sharp pain in both of those areas.  He assessed the voice for strength, and was shocked to find that Harry was beyond tired.  He had virtually no magical reserves at all.  By all rights, the boy should be in a coma, or unconscious at the very least.  Mind-reaching all the way to Azkaban, through the wards, completely untrained, was a feat that neared the impossible.  

Sirius gently pulled his godson's cot towards him, careful of the boy's injuries.  He took the threadbare blanket off his godson and lifted the boy's shirt, carefully inspecting his injuries.   Six broken ribs, and three cracked ones.  And one broken leg, and bruising on most of his body.  This could be very complicated.  He pulled out his wand (the one that David Ollivander, nephew of the Ollivander who owned the wand shop, had given him a couple of days before) and quickly cast a numbing charm and a bandaging charm.  The _Ferula_ charm was handy in that it both set the bones, and bound them.

Harry hissed in pain as his leg was set but otherwise made no noise as he did this.  _::We need to get out of here,:: _ Sirius mind-sent.  

Harry nodded, then asked _::How?::_

_::I'll apparate us.  Do you know what that is?::_

Harry nodded again, and Sirius assumed, correctly, that Harry had heard the phrase and it's meaning from one of the Auror's minds. He grasped Harry's hand in his and apparated back to Diagon Alley.

Now he slipped a hooded cloak over himself and walked through Diagon Alley, into Ollivander's back entrance.  He had to hurry, for no doubt Aurors would be arriving soon, as Apparating could be traced, and neither he nor Harry could afford to be caught.  He, for the obvious reason that he had no desire to return to Azkaban, and Harry, because if he were to be caught he would only be returned to the Dursleys, again.

Suddenly a voice came out of the darkness, "Sirius, is that you?"

"Yes.  David, I need your help with him."  David nodded, and his face darkened when he saw the state of James' son.  He conjured a stretcher, and Sirius gently laid Harry down, noting that Harry was still watching the proceedings avidly.

"Portkey," David murmured as he held out a spare wand-box.  Sirius nodded.  They both grabbed the stretcher, and then Sirius reached out for the portkey, and they vanished.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

David Ollivander's house was just what you'd expect from a wand-maker's apprentice.  There wasn't a wand in sight.  After all, as David put it, he saw enough of the damn things at work.  Of course, no one was seeing very much of the place at all right at this moment as the only two inhabitants were busily making sure the third would be able to move without pain and would not have to grow up crippled.  Sirius wasn't even going to think of the possibility that, if he had not arrived and rescued him, his godson might not have had the opportunity to grow up at all.

Sirius was also sending explanations to Harry's unconscious mind, which Harry would remember when he woke up, explaining everything he could think of.  Especially David, and what had happened since he had escaped Azkaban.

Sirius had barely managed to reach the mainland and had collapsed, exhausted, on the shore falling out of his dog-form and into his human one.  And that was how David Ollivander, or more specifically David Ollivander's owl, had found him.  Sirius had spent the first days of his stay explaining everything to David.  He found that he had had little trouble with this, for, as David had told him many times, he had already known of Sirius's innocence.  He never would explain how he knew, only that it was enough that he did, and that Sirius should get some rest.

The days after were spent cleaning up Sirius's appearance, feeding him up a bit, and generally making sure that he wouldn't scare the hell out of Harry the moment he saw him.  It was also spent with Sirius getting increasingly frantic by the day.  Finally, David had snuck into his uncle's shop with Sirius, and had him choose a wand.  Then Sirius had to make his way to Harry's relatives' house.  Which was complicated by the fact that there were at least two dozen very strong wards around the place to keep people like him, or at least what he was supposed to be, a Death Eater, out.  Putting undetectable holes in the wards had taken nearly a week.  But without them, Sirius would not have been able to use magic, apparate, find the Dursleys' house, or walk in without being detected by the Ministry and Dumbledore both. Let alone take Harry out of the Dursleys' without having a tracing spell placed on the boy.  Which is why he was very thorough in partially disabling the wards, and making sure that his "holes" wouldn't cause the other wards, especially the one that was supposed to detect tampering, to go off.

He had then gone into the Dursleys' home and rescued his godson. Harry was now lying unconscious while David fixed his broken bones, lacerations, and bruises, as  Sirius poured information into his mind.  Suddenly David sighed and leaned back against the wall, thanking the gods for his medi-wizard training.  Sirius looked up sharply.

"You've finished?" he asked.

"Yes.  There are a few bruises left, and he'll be sore for a bit, but other than that he's fine."

"When will he wake up?" Sirius looked at his godson with relief and concern shining in his eyes, which made David wonder how on earth anyone could ever believe this man had betrayed the Potters.

"He should be awake any minute.   I'll get you both some food."  With that, he left the guest bedroom and went off to the kitchens.  His grandfather hadn't believed in the enslavement of house-elves.  Consequently, that meant he had to cook and clean for himself.  He sighed and rubbed his temples.  House-elves would have made everything so much easier.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Sirius watched as his godson stirred and opened his eyes, blinking them blearily.  He made to sit up and Sirius assisted him, and then sat back waiting to see if his godson would speak.  Surprisingly, Harry's first words came in the form of a question.

"Sirius?  What's a Primary?"

Sirius looked at him, dumbfounded.  Of all the things he could have forgotten to explain he had to have chosen this one.  He sighed and rubbed his temples, unconsciously echoing the gesture David had made only minutes before, and started to explain.

"You know how we can speak mind-to-mind?  Telepathically?"  Harry nodded, "Well that's a rather uncommon ability.  There are many gifts that wizards can have that aren't connected directly to their magic.  Soul-searching, which is seeing the truth of what people tell you and sometimes visions of their memories and emotions, Telepathy, speaking to animals, Empathy, Pyrokinesis, the ability to light anything on fire, Telekinesis, moving things with your mind, natural animagi, and some others.  There are different levels of abilities, however.  The people born with a high level of ability are called Primaries, the people born with a low level of ability are called Minors, and the people who have their latent abilities awoken due to… extreme circumstances, are called Secondaries.  You appear to be a Telepathy Secondary, Telekinesis Secondary, and a Soul-searcher Secondary.  I have no idea if you have any Primary or minor abilities however."

Harry looked as though he was carefully processing this new information.   "What are you?"  he asked curiously.

Sirius smiled, "I'm a Telepathy Minor."

Suddenly, the scarf Harry wore about his neck detached itself, slithered into Harry's lap, and transformed into a snake.  Sirius started, and stared in shock at the snake, which was currently hissing animatedly at Harry and Harry…  Wait, Harry was hissing back!  Harry looked up at him his face turning worried when he saw Sirius' shocked expression.  Sirius noticed that he also unconsciously shrank back from Sirius as though expecting to be struck at any moment.  Sirius immediately sent a reassuring smile in Harry's direction, but was still caught off-guard when Harry spoke.

"What's wrong?"

Sirius rubbed his temples again, thinking bemusedly of how it was becoming a habit in a very short period of time, "You're a Snake-Speaker, a Parselmouth.  It's an ability that is usually attributed to Dark Wizards.  Voldemort was one."

Harry stared at him, mouth open in shock, "But I'm not!  You know I'm not!  I've never-" Harry was sounding panicky and frightened, and Sirius rushed to reassure him.

"I know you aren't," 'well', he noted when Harry immediately shut up, 'that certainly quieted him,' then continued, "the wizarding world at large, however, would regard you as no better than Voldemort simply because you have this ability, though I hope that anyone who knew you well would look beyond it if they found out.  It's something you need to keep a very tight secret.  People think that Parselmouths are worse than werewolves most of the time."

"Like Moony?"

Sirius jumped, startled, then stared at Harry, mouth agape.  "How do you know about Remus?" he practically shouted.

Harry shrank against his pillow at Sirius's reaction and Sirius forcibly calmed himself.  "I'm not going to hit you, you know.  I'm never going to hurt you like your Uncle did."

Harry looked away, embarrassed.  He knew that, really he did, but it was hard sometimes to remember everything he knew about Sirius from the time he had spent in contact with his mind, especially when he got loud or when he moved suddenly.  "I know.  I'm sorry," he mumbled.

Sirius looked contrite.  He reached out with his hand and pulled Harry's chin so that Harry faced him.  "You've nothing to be sorry for.  I imagine that you can't control it, am I right?"  Harry cautiously nodded.  "Well then, there you go."

Suddenly, Sirius grinned, "Do you know what tomorrow is?"  Harry shook his head.  "July 31st.  Your birthday."  Sirius expected some sort of reaction out of Harry for this, but merely got a blank look.   "Your birthday," he tried again, "with celebrating, and presents…" he left off, hoping it would get a smile at the very least. 

Harry looked at Sirius in genuine surprise, "You mean, I get presents?"

Sirius sighed.  He hadn't expected that.  Though, he thought, he should have guessed.  Those bastards didn't feed Harry properly, made him sleep in a cupboard, and abused him.  Why the hell would they buy him birthday presents?  He really needed to get a bit of revenge on Harry's relatives… later, he promised himself, I'll do it later.  "Of course you get presents!  And now that you're all healed up, we can get you a wand as well.  How does a pet sound?  Besides your snake that is.   How about an owl?  And a broom too, I'll teach you to fly!  Oh and," Sirius grinned and with a pop turned into a large, black, grim-like dog, and then turned back, "I could teach you how to do that."  He grinned widely.  For Harry to be an Animagus like him, like his father. . .  Well for one it would be dead useful as a disguise.

Harry stared at his godfather in shock, then gave him a huge grin and dove into Sirius' arms and hugged him like his life depended on it.

Sirius looked down at his godson.  To get this kind of reception from him was something he had never even dared to hope for.  He hugged back, and some of the shadows receded from his eyes, which were smiling for the first time in a long while.

Sirius held Harry until he fell back asleep, at which point David came back into the room.  He stood up and made for the door, grabbing a roll from the tray David carried.

"Watch him for me?" he asked.

"Where are you going, Sirius?"

Sirius grinned ferally, "I have to pay a visit to a certain family Harry's been living with all this time," he said.

David stared after him, wondering exactly how many pieces the Dursleys would be in when Sirius was finished with them.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Sirius made his way through the Dursley household.  It was still night-time so the Dursleys were all still asleep.  Sirius grinned evilly to himself as he thought of his plans.  Oh this was going to be fun!  Pity he couldn't wait around to see their reactions to his little prank.

First he put a charm on the Dursleys to keep them asleep.  It would do him no good if they were to wake up and find him here.  Then he took all of the clothes that he could find in the house, and sent them out into the back yard.  It had rained recently and the flowerbeds, which Sirius had meticulously destroyed until they were little more than large brown splotches on the lawn, were wet, making a thick mud that Sirius imagined would be hell to clean out of clothing.  Especially Mrs. Dursley's best dress, which was a pale blue, pale enough to be almost white, and made out of a fine velvet.

After he finished that, he shattered every piece of glass, fine china, and pretty much anything else breakable, that resided in the kitchen.  He made his way towards the perfectly shined and dusted collection of antique china that was kept inside a glass case in the dining room.  He smiled and pointed his wand at the case, making every expensive piece shatter, silenced by the sound-proofing charm he had put on the case.

He made his way through the house, destroying valuables and making huge messes.  He particularly enjoyed painting the walls of the Dursleys bedrooms with all of the food he could find in the well-stocked kitchen.  He wondered how hard it would be to clean crumbled crisps and cookies off the wall when they were stuck there with honey.

He looked around the now thoroughly trashed house with a satisfied expression on his face.  He turned towards the door to leave, when sudden inspiration struck.  He waved his wand and the Dursleys were now sleeping on the ceiling, as if gravity had been reversed for them.  He left the furniture, or at least what was left of the furniture, on the floor.  He vaguely wondered what would happen if they tried to walk outside, before he decided that he didn't much care, grabbed Mr. Dursley's rather full wallet, and left.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

The next day Sirius, David, and Harry were standing in the wand-shop.  Sirius was reading the _Daily Prophet_, which had his picture stamped across the front page.  He sighed, thankful for David's foresight in getting him and Harry in disguises before coming here.  He waited for Mr. Ollivander to come out.  After all, it was as good a time as any for Harry to get a wand.

Mr. Ollivander came out and looked at Harry in surprise.  "A bit young to be getting a wand aren't you?" he asked, looking towards Sirius and David questioningly.

"We're going to be travelling for a while.  I'm not sure if we'll be back in time to shop for his school supplies so I thought I'd get him the essentials a bit early," said Sirius pushing his now light-brown hair behind a lightly tanned ear.

Mr. Ollivander nodded, "I'd suggest you stand back a bit Mr…?"

"Anders.  Orion Anders.  And his name is Leom Orphicus."

"Yes, Mr. Anders."  He looked down at Harry, who was looking back up at him warily through dark blue eyes slightly obscured by his floppy golden-brown hair, "Well, I'll just see what we can find for you, then," he said before turning and searching through the many stacks of boxes before picking one out, taking out the wand, and holding it out to Harry.  "Willow and Dragon Heartstring, 9 inches."

Harry took it and merely held it, looking at Ollivander questioningly.

"Well?  Wave it about for a bit, go on," said David from near the door where he was standing with Sirius who was watching intently.

Harry, feeling rather stupid, waved it about only to have it snatched nearly instantly from his hand.

"No, that won't do," muttered Ollivander, "here, try this, Spruce and Unicorn Tail-hair, 12 ½ inches."

Harry took it and waved it about.  This time something happened.  When he waved it, the rubbish bin and the lantern both exploded and about two hundred wands fell off their respective shelves.  The three men all stared at him with slightly shocked expressions before Mr. Ollivander shook himself and took the wand from Harry.

"No, definitely not that one," he said, with a slight jest to his tone, before picking another wand.  They went on like this for nearly an hour with pretty much the same luck.  There had been other rather. . . unfortunate wand choices.  One had set Mr. Ollivander's hair on fire, another had turned an empty wand-box into a rather vicious thing that seemed determined to bite David's hand off, and another had turned the entire inside of the shop a blinding neon green before having the colour converge in one point and shoot out a beam of green light that destroyed Mr. Ollivander's one spindly chair which sat in the centre of the room.  This last had visibly shaken the room's occupants and had made Ollivander steer clear of any wands with a Runespoor's Fang as a core.

Finally they found a wand, Holly and Phoenix feather, eleven inches.  Ollivander told them that it was the brother wand to Voldemort's, and Sirius rushed Harry out of the shop rather quickly after that.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Harry bounced on the balls of his feet excitedly, Sirius watching him in amusement.

"Excited?" he asked mildly.

Harry just looked at him.  Of course he was excited!  They were brewing the Animagus potion and it would be done in a matter of minutes.  After eight hours of sleep, and then eight more hours of potion brewing, Harry was practically going mad in anticipation.  It didn't help that Sirius had kept giving him demonstrations of turning into a dog and back.

David shook his head, watching the exchange from where he sat in a chair leaning against the wall about five feet from where Harry and Sirius stood.  The two of them had been remarkably easy with each other since the evening before, when Harry had bested Sirius on his broom and Sirius had charmed him to levitate six inches from the ground in retaliation, as well as turning him all sorts of colours.  David was astounded that Harry could so easily trust Sirius after all that had happened.  He shrugged, thinking that since Harry had shared his mind with Sirius nearly completely for the better part of two days, they probably knew each other quite well.

Sirius threw in one last ingredient, making the potion turn a transparent pale blue, then announced, "Finished."

Harry grinned, wondering what animal he would become.  Maybe a dog like Sirius, or an owl so he could fly about whenever he wanted, or maybe a-

Sirius cut off his thoughts by handing him a goblet filled with the blue potion.  Harry raised it to his lips and was about to drink before Sirius stopped him by grabbing his hand.  He looked up at his godfather in confusion.

"Do you remember what I told you?"

Harry nodded, then seeing that Sirius was not satisfied with this he replied, "The potion will turn me into my animal for five minutes.  I'm supposed to try to remember what transforming feels like so that I can do it again.  I also have to remember what being an animal is like.  And I have to control my-" he frowned -what was that word again? Oh, yes- "instincts while I'm an animal."  He looked up at Sirius again, then asked, "Can I take the potion now?"

Sirius chuckled and ruffled Harry's hair.  "Twerp.  Go ahead."

Harry grinned, then downed the potion in one gulp, grimacing slightly at the taste, before he felt himself start to transform.

It was an odd sensation.  It felt like it should hurt, or at the very least be highly uncomfortable, but it actually ended up feeling very pleasant.  His skin and muscle stretched and reformed, reminding him of the feeling you got when you stretched first thing in the morning; a tightening in your muscles, then a release that left you feeling relaxed and comfortable.  Then there was the reforming of his bones, which felt odd, like someone was compressing and stretching him, almost like a really deep massage.  Then he sprouted fur, which felt like he was putting on silk clothing.  All in all, it was a very nice experience, especially after what he had felt at the hand of the Dursleys.

Then it was over.  He looked around, noting that things were in different colours.  He was seeing a lot more purple and magenta than he was used to, but things that should have been green, blue, or several other different colours appeared grey to his eyes.  His peripheral vision was increased.  Both his hearing and sense of smell had increased exponentially.  And, he looked at himself, he had a tail!  

He turned about in a circle, trying to get a better look at himself.  He quickly realised that this wasn't working.  He heard the sound of a man laughing and looked up.

Sirius was laughing!  What was so funny?  He cocked his head in question, which only made Sirius laugh harder.  He looked over a David beseechingly.  David shook his head ruefully, rolling his eyes.  He then conjured a mirror, so that Harry could see what he had become.  Harry looked into the mirror eagerly.  He had become- a wolf?  No, that wasn't right.  He studied himself carefully.  He was a dog, definitely a dog.  German Shepherd by the looks of it, but the fur was all off.  Grey, not that that told him much considering the fact that he was essentially colour-blind, with black ears and a black crest running down his back.  Black paws and tail-tip, and a small, slightly lighter-coloured patch of fur above his eyes that was shaped vaguely like a bolt of lightening.  His fur was longer than any German Shepherd's would be, and looked vaguely wolf-like, which had been what had confused him before. He was also rather small, and looked like a pup.  Maybe that had to do with how old he was?  He'd have to ask Sirius later.

He was forced to end his perusal of his new body when he felt the change come upon him again.  But he didn't  grow larger.  Instead he was getting smaller.  When it was over he looked up at the mirror again.  A cat?   But weren't cats and dogs opposites?  And wasn't he only supposed to have one form? Oh well.  He noticed immediately that both his hearing and his vision were better in this form, though he got the impression that if anything were to get within three or four inches of his face it would become hard for him to focus properly.  His sense of smell, oddly enough, was even less that that of his human form, but he was no longer quite as colour-blind.  He twitched his nose and was astounded at the amount of sensitivity there was in his whiskers.  He could practically feel it when dust particles touched them!  He walked around a bit, revelling in how smooth and easy movement was as a cat, before he was forced to change back.

He found himself sitting on the floor as a human, looking up at Sirius and David in confusion.  "I thought you said that I'd only have one form."

Sirius and David traded glances, both thinking along the same lines.  Sirius opened his mouth to say something, but David cut him off.  "Let him try to transform first so we know for sure."

Sirius nodded, then turned to Harry.  "Try to transform, into the dog."

Harry nodded, then focused on the feeling of transforming into a dog, and what it felt like when he was in that form.  Then he actually felt the transformation.  It was faster this time, though still not the near-instantaneous POP that happened whenever Sirius transformed.

Sirius nodded in satisfaction, though still slightly impressed despite himself.  It had taken near to four months even after he had taken the potion before he could transform that quickly.  "Turn back now."

About ten seconds later Harry was once again sitting on the floor in his human form.

"Well, that settles it then.  Pay up, David," said Sirius cheerfully.

David muttered something vulgar under his breath (which made Harry look at him in shock, wondering if people could really do that with a tree and a stuffed turkey. . .) and handed Sirius a galleon.

"What's settled?" asked Harry.

Sirius looked at him, smiling, and said, "You've got another ability.  It seems that you're an Animagus Minor."

"What's the difference between an Animagus Minor, Animagus Primary, and a regular Animagus?"

Sirius frowned thoughtfully, then replied, "An Animagus Primary can easily learn to turn into a few hundred animals.  I think that you get classified as a Minor when you have less than thirty or so forms."  He looked to David for confirmation, and David nodded.  "And the main difference between the people with the gift and a normal Animagus is that the people with the gift take to the change like a duck to water.  It took me four months to get as far along as you are, and you've only had fifteen minutes.  That and the fact that people with the gift have multiple forms."

"I only have two forms," Harry pointed out, feeling slightly uncomfortable.  Sirius had said that most people only had one or two abilities if any, and he had five.

"Well then," said David amiably, "you've only got a very small amount of that ability, even for a Minor."  He paused, then continued, correctly interpreting Harry's uncomfortable posture, "You're not abnormal for having more abilities than most people.  In all likelihood, your Secondary abilities will probably lose strength or go away altogether.  Sirius can only train your Telepathy, and I don't have any abilities at all.  The telepathic training might be enough to control your Soul-Searching, but the Telekinesis will have to go untrained."

"And most untrained Secondary abilities either lose strength or go away completely," Sirius finished for David.

Harry nodded, but then just sat there as if he was wondering what to do with himself.  Sirius came up with a solution quickly.  "How about we go outside and you can get used to moving about in animal form?" he asked.  "You'll have to learn to walk and run all over again, and it will be different for each animal."

Harry smiled and nodded.  Sirius transformed, Harry following his lead and turning into a dog.  They trotted out the door, Harry trying not to trip over his own feet and failing about three quarters of the time.

David shook his head.   They should enjoy themselves while they could.  The Ministry probably remembered his opposition of Sirius' imprisonment, and it would only be a matter of time before they arrived.  He rubbed his left forearm, the sleeve coming up slightly and revealing a faded red brand, shaped like a scull with a snake coming out of it's mouth.  The Mark had faded a great deal the night that Voldemort was defeated by young Harry, and it had only ever been black when He was calling his Death Eaters.

David sighed, thinking of his past.  Then his face brightened a fraction.  Perhaps helping young Harry get away from his relatives, and Sirius get away from the misguided Ministry, would help him to atone for his actions.

He could only hope.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 

Not a Dream After All

Harry shouted and woke up, breathing hard.  It was dark, and the floor he lay upon was near unbearably hard.  He stayed still, choking back sobs.  It had been a dream after all.  Sirius, magic, all of it a dream.  Any moment now Vernon would bang on the door to his cupboard and shout at him not to make any more noise.  There, he heard the footsteps coming now.  He heard a door open, then a voice.

"Harry?  Are you alright?"  A beam of light from the open doorway fell onto Harry's face as he looked up at Sirius with tears still shining in his eyes.  "Hey Harry, what are you doing on the floor?  Did you fall out of bed?"

Harry quickly untangled himself from the blankets around him and launched himself at his godfather, hugging him tightly, tears streaming down his face.

Sirius looked at Harry with a surprised expression on his face before picking the too small child up and carrying him over to the bed.  He sat down and leaned against the headboard, cradling the still crying child gently in his arms.

"Shh," he whispered, wiping away Harry's tears with his thumb.  "What's wrong, Harry?"

"Promise you're not a dream?" said Harry softly into his shirt.

Sirius held Harry tighter, "I promise, Harry."  He disentangled himself from the boy and lay him down on the bed murmuring that he should go back to sleep.  He lay the blankets back over Harry and turned to go.

"Stay, please."

Sirius turned back to Harry, looking at the boy with a sad smile on his face, "Of course."

He slipped in beside the small child, letting Harry curl up against him.  He sighed.  Tomorrow was their last day of their stay with David.  It was already too dangerous for them to stay any longer.  They needed to leave the country.  To go somewhere where no one knew them or of them.  Or at least, didn't know enough about them that a glamour covering up Harry's scar and disguising his own looks wouldn't fix it.  He relaxed into the soft bed, wondering when the next time they had one so comfortable would be.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Harry ran.  He was panting as he squeezed between several pedestrians as a dog.  There was a reason he had stolen from a fat man.  Fat men weren't supposed to be fast.  Fat men were supposed to be easy to get away from.  This man, however, seemed to be defying every single known law of physics there was.  The man was probably two meters around and he was keeping up with a dog!  Harry ducked into the alley that hid his and Sirius' current hideaway.  It was a dead end, with a hole barely large enough for Harry to transform into a human, push the fat wallet into the hole, transform into a cat, and crawl in after it.

Sirius looked up as Harry entered and frowned.  Hadn't he told Harry that stealing was unnecessary?  Some food was one thing, but the boy insisted upon getting money as well.  He coughed, then sighed.  He knew why Harry had done it.  Sirius had caught the muggle flu.  There was no cure for it in the magical world, and even if there was, neither Sirius nor Harry had dared venture into the British magical community since Harry's eighth birthday.  This meant that Sirius was in need of muggle medicine.  Unfortunately, muggle medicine was expensive.  And ever since the two of them had returned to Britain, Sirius had been unemployed.

It hadn't always been like this.  Living in magically expanded holes in the walls of alleyways.  There had been a good eight months or more when Sirius and Harry had lived as Neil and James O'Connor.  That had been when they lived in Spain.  Sirius had learned the language from his mother in his youth, and Harry, due to his young age, had picked it up fairly quickly.  They had posed as a father and son, with Sirius doing odd jobs to pay for a small apartment in a mostly muggle residential area of Madrid.  That had been good.  It had worked out quite well until they had been hit with an anti-glamour charm while walking through a wizarding shop.  Harry's scar had appeared and Sirius had become the infamous Sirius Black, Dark Wizard.  They had apparated to Burgos, then Bilbao, then Pamplona, and had then travelled as dogs to Monaco.  From there they had made their way, trying to avoid apparition as much as possible, until they had finally managed to return to Britain, in a roundabout fashion.  After all, going from Monaco through Paris, then Vaduz, then Berlin, then Luxembourg, then Amsterdam, to get to the UK, could hardly be called a direct route.

In any case, here they were, in Ottery St. Catchpole.  It felt odd trying to speak and understand English when they had spoken Spanish almost exclusively for the one and a half years they had been gone.

And it didn't help that Sirius was sick, or that Harry kept getting caught stealing.  They really had to find somewhere to stay.  Preferably in the wizarding world somehow.  Sirius wondered how that was ever going to happen.

"Sirius?"

"Si?"

"Sirius, you could at least _try _to speak English."

Sirius rolled his eyes.  "Did you want to tell me something?"

"I got another wallet," stated Harry matter-of-factly, knowing perfectly well that Sirius disapproved of his thievery.  He tossed the wallet towards his godfather, with a hand that spoke of experience in such things. 

Sirius caught it deftly, opening it carefully and inspecting its contents.  Several fifty pound notes looked back at him  As well as more than a dozen fives and tens.  He raised his eyebrows, this was quite a catch.  They'd be able to buy plenty with this much.

Suddenly a hand reached through the hole in the wall where Harry had just entered.  A hand holding a rather large bottle of rat poison.  Which was then broken, the contents being spewed over the entirety of the duo's hideout.

_::Maybe we should leave,:: _suggested Harry sardonically,  looking in disgust at the poisonous liquid splattered over their possessions.

Sirius nodded curtly, quickly shrinking their one trunk and then transfiguring it into a collar which he handed to Harry.   Harry slipped the dog-tag that Sirius had received when they had stayed with a young muggle couple as pets onto the collar swiftly.  Sirius changed and Harry quickly slipped the collar on over his head.

He called Otean and drew out his own dog-tag, giving it to Otean to be held in his mouth.  Harry transformed into his dog form and Otean slipped onto his neck, transforming into a green collar, the dog-tag hanging from a small loop in the fabric.

_::Ready?:: _asked Sirius.

_::Yeah,::_

And with that, they jumped straight through the back wall of their now former home-

And crashed into three people with bright red hair.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Sirius shook his head to clear it, and looked at the people he had landed on.  There was a boy and girl about Harry's age, and a boy who looked to have just left Hogwarts after his last year at the school.  He got up quickly, picking Harry up carefully by the scruff of the neck with his teeth, setting him down on the pavement beside the three red-heads, rather than leaving him on top of them.  He looked at Harry worriedly when the boy unconsciously shrunk away from the three children.  Harry still didn't do very well with strangers.

_::You alright, Harry?:: _he asked, keeping a tight rein on his thoughts, making sure that no one but Harry would be able to hear him.

_::I'm fine,:: _said Harry, though he sounded a bit dazed, and no small amount of apprehension in his voice.

The three red-heads got up, and the eldest held a hand out towards Sirius cautiously.  Sirius made a show of sniffing the hand carefully before licking it in greeting.

The boy grinned, then cautiously petted Sirius on the head, scratching behind his ears.

_::Ooh, good.  Nice,:: _muttered Sirius, much to Harry's amusement.  Then the petting stopped and Sirius whimpered his disapproval.  He watched as the elder boy made the same entreaty towards Harry, which Harry responded to by walking up to the boy and sitting in front of him, placing his paw in the boy's hand.  Suddenly the girl spoke.

"Charlie, can we take them home with us?  Please?" the girl asked pleadingly.

"I'm not sure, Ginny.  They might not want to come.  Besides, Mum and Dad might not let you keep them."

"I'm sure that they'll come.  They're friendly, and they look hungry," said the younger boy confidently.

The eldest, Charlie, just looked at the younger two for a moment before he rolled his eyes and smiled indulgently.  "Sure.  But only if they follow."  Charlie knelt down beside the two dogs and checked their tags.  "They're muggle pets, I think.  Their names are Blackie," he checked Harry's tag, "and Scruffy."

Harry and Sirius looked at each other in surprise, both thinking the same thing.  _::Muggles?::_

_::Well, you did say that you wanted to get back into the wizarding community somehow,:: _said Harry.

Sirius looked skywards, the closest he could get to rolling his eyes while in dog form, _::This isn't what I had in mind,:: _he muttered to Harry.

Harry gave him a doggy-grin.  He knew what that meant.  It looked like they were going to be spending some more time as pets.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

"Mum!  Dad!" called Charlie as he walked into the Weasley home, his youngest siblings trailing in behind him, as well as the two stray dogs they had picked up in the village.

His mum walked out of the kitchen, wand in hand.   Apparently she'd been cleaning.  "Yes-" she began, then she caught sight of the two dogs.  "What are they doing here?"

"Mum, can we keep them?  They're really nice and well-trained and-"  Ginny said quickly and Charlie could have sworn that the two dogs had exchanged amused glances.

"We'll see about their being well-trained," said Mrs. Weasley, cutting off her daughter's diatribe.  Then she turned to the dogs.  "Sit," she said sternly.

Both dogs sat.  "Roll over."  Both dogs rolled over, in the same direction.  "Lie down."  Both dogs lied down.  "Bark."  The two dogs barked, the smaller one giving a single yip before stopping.  However the larger one continued barking until Mrs. Weasley gave the curt command of, "Stop Barking!"

By this time the rest of the family was watching, with the twins snickering softly.  Who knew a dog could have a sense of humour?  Mr. Weasley cleared his throat softly, distracting his wife from her assessment of the two dogs' obedience.

"I think that we've seen that they're well-trained, Molly.  I see no problem in having them stay," he remarked cheerfully, idly patting the larger black dog on the head.

Molly sniffed, then said, "Oh alright," which earned her cheers from the assembled children, "but they'll have to have a bath.  And you'll need to name them."

"They already have names, Mum.  The big ones Blackie, according to that funny little metal thing on his collar.  And the grey one is Scruffy," said Ron.

"Muggle pets?" asked Mr. Weasley, with a vague excitement in his tone that was present whenever he spoke of anything to do with muggles.

Ron nodded, "Charlie thinks so."  He turned to the two dogs, "Well, it's time to get you two into a bath.  Come on," and with that he left up the stairs, towards the bath-room, the two dogs following.

Arthur watched after his son, then turned to the other children, "You all might want to help.  I've heard that dogs don't like being given baths too much."  This statement resulted in all the children, except Percy who wanted to study, running up the stairs to help Ron give the dogs a bath, and Charlie who turned to his parents with a rather odd look on his face.

"I don't think that those are really dogs,"  he stated bluntly, which made his parents turn to look at him in shock.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not sure.  The way we found them was rather. . . odd.  They just popped up out of nowhere, like they'd apparated or something.  And they act intelligent.  More intelligent than any muggle dog I've ever seen.  I'm not sure though. . .  it just seems odd."

"Well," said Mrs. Weasley, "what exactly do you want us to do about it?"

"I think that they should be tested for being animagi."

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Harry and Sirius plodded down the stairs of the Burrow, as they had learned it was called.  They had had fun drenching the children, who had now gone to sleep, thoroughly during the bath.  They went into the kitchen, noting that the parents, since they had yet to learn these peoples' surname, and Charlie were still up.

Harry walked over to Charlie and nudged him, hoping to get some food.  Charlie grinned and got up, grabbing his wand from the table and flicking it absently.  A bowl of meat scraps appeared in front of both Harry and Sirius, and they dug in happily.  They probably would have been disgusted if they were in human form, but as dogs the food was perfectly appetising.

When the dogs were busy with their food, Charlie went over to his parents.

"Now?"  he asked.  His parents had decided that since he was the one with the suspicions, he would be the one to cast the charm that would reveal whether or not the two dogs were indeed animagi.

"Let them finish eating first at least," said Arthur.

Charlie rolled his eyes, but nodded anyway.   He sat down, waiting for the dogs to finish their meal.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Sirius flicked his eyes to where the three red-heads were sitting, watching him and Harry intently.  He shifted nervously, something was up.  He finished his food, then nudged the owl away from him a lied down, waiting for Harry to finish.  He kept throwing glances at their "owners," wondering what exactly was going on.  Then Harry finished his meal, and the two of them were suddenly bound with ropes.

Harry looked at Charlie, who was the one holding the wand that had apparently bound them, in panic.  This was not good, most definitely not good.  What was going on?  They didn't suspect them, did they?  The next words that he heard gave him a clear answer to that question.

"Revealus Animagi."

A blue-white light rushed towards Harry and Sirius, splitting into two forks just before it hit.  Harry felt the change rip through him violently, rather than the pleasant sensation that he was used to, and shuddered.  The ropes quickly moulded to suit their human selves.  Harry looked stubbornly at the ground, until he heard the woman scream.

"THAT'S SIRIUS BLACK!"  Harry looked at her sharply.  Damn, he'd been hoping for a bit of a better reaction.  Then the woman turned her attention to him and cried out again, "and that's Harry Potter!"

Harry frowned.  Stupid scar, always giving away his identity.  Of course, he could have hid it with his hair or something, but lately he had been unable to get it cut.  So it had grown out and he now kept it in a tight ponytail, out of the way of his face.  Coincidentally, this style displayed his scar quite well, or quite badly depending upon how you looked at it.

Charlie had gone pale, and the man, Arthur, was busy searching the kitchen for something.

"What are you doing?!" asked Molly, panic clear in her voice.

"I'm calling the Ministry," he said curtly.  "The Aurors will doubtless be able to take care of this."

"NO!" shouted Harry, forgetting all caution.  "You can't!  Sirius never did anything.  He-"

"What lies have you been feeding him, Black?" spat Charlie venomously.

"He hasn't been lying to me!"

"Harry, dear, surely you can't believe that-" started Mrs. Weasley, before she was cut off.

"Truth spell me if you think I'm lying," said Harry coldly.

"Harry!  No!" hissed Sirius urgently.

"Why?" asked Harry, deciding that it would be wiser to speak audibly for the time being.

"Truth spells are painful, Harry.  You know that."

Harry paled slightly, but stuck his chin out stubbornly, "I don't care.  You're not going back to Azkaban."

Sirius turned to the Weasleys, "Truth spell me.  But don't hurt Harry."

The three Weasleys blinked in surprise at the extraordinary protectiveness present in the man's voice.  Arthur nodded cautiously.  "We'll hear you out.  But any funny business and we won't hesitate to call the Aurors."

_::What are we going to do?  We're tied up tight enough to cut off circulation.  It's not like we can move,::_ muttered Harry sarcastically.  He shuddered at the phrase "funny business."  It reminded him of something that his uncle would have said, especially when spoken in that tone of voice.

_::Harry, you're not helping.::_

Harry gave a mental shrug.  He didn't like being tied like some criminal and he wasn't going to make a big secret of that fact.

The Weasleys looked at Sirius expectantly.  Finally Charlie spoke up, "Well, are you going to start or what?"

Sirius gave him a look, saying only two words," Truth spell."

Charlie blushed slightly, then looked towards his father.  He knew the charm, Charlie did not.  Arthur nodded and cast the charm.  Sirius hissed in pain when it struck and Harry looked at him worriedly.  Then the questions started.

"Are you or were you ever a Death Eater?"

"No."

"Were you the Potters' Secret Keeper?"  The charges held against Black had included being the Potters' Secret Keeper.  It had been made public knowledge about three months after his escape.

"No."

"Who was?"

"Peter Pettigrew."  The Weasleys all paled, and Charlie sputtered in disbelief.

"Peter Pettigrew?!  The man is a hero!  He's one of the best Aurors there is. Why would we believe you?"

"Well the little matter that Sirius is UNDER TRUTH SPELL might be taken into account," spat Harry.

The Weasleys gaped at him in surprise.  "I have two more questions," said Arthur softly.  Sirius nodded, waiting.  "Have you been training Harry to be a Dark Wizard?"

Harry bit his lip to keep his angry response to that question from coming out and waited for Sirius' answer.

"No."

"Do you intend to harm any of my family?"

"No."

Arthur nodded, and lifted the charm, "Well that settles it then."

All four of them, Molly, Charlie, Harry, and Sirius, looked at Arthur in confusion.  "Settles what?" asked Sirius cautiously, expecting Arthur to turn to the fireplace to call the Aurors.

"You're innocent.  We won't tell anyone about you unless you want us to."

Charlie raised his eyebrows in surprise, but didn't show any signs of disagreement.  Molly just nodded and started bustling about the kitchen.  Sirius and Harry just stared at the three of them in shock.  Sirius was a wanted criminal, thought to have either murdered Harry or trained him in Dark magic, and they were going to be let off that easy?

"Do you mind then?" asked Sirius, looking pointedly at the ropes he was bound in.

Charlie blushed, and quickly undid the ropes, murmuring his apologies.  Sirius and Harry both leaned against the wall, rubbing their stiff muscles and regarding the three Weasleys warily.  This was _quite _the turnaround, and they were still wondering what the catch was.

Suddenly they heard footsteps coming down the stairs.  Sirius and Harry glanced at each other, then quickly transformed.  Ginny walked into the kitchen rubbing her eyes sleepily and looking at her parents and elder brother confusedly, "What's going on?  I heard yelling."

"Nothing, dear.  Go back to sleep," said Mrs. Weasley.

Ginny nodded, obviously very tired, and trudged back up the stairs.  Harry raised his eyebrows at her obedient departure, which felt odd as a dog but conveyed his message none the less.  The Weasleys didn't notice his expression, however, and merely cast a silencing charm, closing the door and locking it, making sure that there would be no more interruptions.

"You can change back now," said Charlie.  Sirius nodded, and changed back into his human form, taking a seat at the dining table.  Harry merely settled himself around Sirius' legs.

"Why are you helping us?" asked Sirius, looking from one Weasley to another, both suspicion and curiosity showing in his expression.

"Because you're innocent," stated Mrs. Weasley as though this was the most obvious thing in the world.  Sirius frowned slightly, but saw the sincerity in all of their faces.  He nodded, accepting but still slightly wary.

"Aren't you going to transform?" asked Arthur, "You might want to join in our conversation."

_::If I want to join in conversation, then I will.  Being human has nothing to do with it,::_  said Harry into all of their minds.  The Weasleys jumped, and stared at Harry in shock.

"You're a Secondary?!" Charlie half-shouted.  Then he turned to Sirius, "You hurt him, didn't you?!  You bastard!  I'll-"  suddenly he was lifted into the air and put, not so gently, back in his chair.  Harry was glaring at him from where he lay at Sirius' feet.

_::Sirius never did _anything_ to me.::  _he spat.

Charlie merely stared at Harry in shock, "But then- How did you-" he sputtered.

Sirius opened his mouth to explain, but was stopped by Harry's _::Don't make me bite you.  They do not need to know.::_

Arthur coughed, then spoke, attempting to change the subject, "Are you planning on having Harry attend Hogwarts?"

Sirius frowned, "I'd like him to, but I didn't think that it would be possible, considering the circumstances."

"You could just send him.  And let Dumbledore work it out when he gets there," said Charlie.

_::I'm not leaving Sirius.:: _came Harry's mind-voice, calm and decisive.  _::And the Aurors would be after me.::_

"You're a hero," said Mrs. Weasley, "Surely they wouldn't-"

_::If they thought I knew anything about where Sirius was, then they would.:: _said Harry.

Sirius looked at him in surprise.  He had no idea that Harry had this so well thought out.  They had never really talked about it before, even though Sirius had shared numerous stories about Hogwarts to Harry.

"It's a pity that you're not cats, or owls," said Arthur thoughtfully.

"Why is that?" asked Sirius, though he thought that he knew where this was going.

"You could go to Hogwarts as pets, for Ron maybe."

"Harry can turn into a cat," said Sirius softly.

The Weasley's looked at Harry in surprise, again.

_::I'm.  Not.  Leaving.  Sirius.::  _repeated Harry firmly.

"Perhaps, if I wrote to Professor Dumbledore and asked if there could be an exception made to the rules.  I could tell him that one of our children is particularly attached to you," said Arthur, directing his comment at Sirius.

Harry looked sceptical, if dogs can look sceptical, but didn't voice his opinion on the matter.

"How would you explain to your children the fact that 'Scruffy' is no longer a dog, but a cat?" asked Sirius.

"He's got a point," said Charlie.

"Well that's out then," said Mrs. Weasley, handing Sirius a cup of tea.  Sirius raised his eyebrows slightly, but nodded his thanks anyway.

"Then I'll say that there are two dogs, instead of one," said Arthur.

Both Sirius and Harry looked doubtful, but Sirius shrugged, showing that he didn't mind if the Weasleys carried on with their plan.  Harry yawned, which made the adults present smile slightly.

"Well, it's far past time for us all to go to sleep," pointed out Arthur, "so I'll write the letter tomorrow."

Sirius transformed, and Mrs. Weasley removed the spells on the room.  The three of them then went up the stairs to their beds.

Sirius and Harry exchanged looks.  _::That was. . . certainly interesting,:: _said Sirius, yawning.

Harry shot him a doggy grin, _::'Night Padfoot.::_

_::Goodnight Harry.::_


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, or Sirius Black, or Dumbledore, or the rat, or the Weasleys, or Owl post, or Hogwarts, or…. 

Chapter 4

Run-ins with a Rat

A week passed, then two, and both Sirius and Harry were beginning to get comfortable with having the eldest of the Weasley household knowing who they were.  The children adored their new pets, and Harry would often go out with them to play, leaving Sirius able to converse with Molly and Arthur freely.

Arthur had sent of the letter to Dumbledore the morning after their unmasking, as Sirius and Harry were inclined to call it.  Their answer came with the children's Hogwarts letters.

The owls swooped in at breakfast, dropping all of the letters in front of their intended recipient.  The letters received a different reaction from everyone.  The twins simply grabbed them as if it were no big deal, opening them without decorum, tossing the Hogsmeade permission slips towards their parents.  Ron  grinned widely, practically cheering.  It was obvious that he was quite happy at the prospect of finally attending Hogwarts.  Percy merely stared at his letter, which was considerably bulkier than any of the others, in absolute shock.

"What is it, Percy?" asked Mrs. Weasley in concern.  Percy didn't answer, instead he reached for the letter with trembling hands and carefully slit the parchment envelope.  A gleaming silver badge fell onto the table.

"I'm a Prefect," he breathed, wonderingly.  The twins, of course, took it upon themselves to break the apparent magic of the moment.

"Well, of course you are, old boy!" cried Fred loudly.

"No one else is a studious-"

"-as bookish-"

"-as pompous-"

"-as _prefect-_"

"- as you are," they finished in unison.  Mrs. Weasley frowned disapprovingly at them.

"That's wonderful, dear," said Mrs. Weasley, turning back to Percy, pride very apparent in her face.  Percy grinned widely, polished the badge, and pinned it onto his jumper, a smug look just beginning to appear on his face.

"Congratulations, Percy," said Mr. Weasley.  "I don't suppose that any of you would be interested in a trip to Diagon Alley today?"

The children cheered, rushing to finish their breakfast before running up the stairs to get ready to go.  Arthur smiled, and waited until everyone that didn't already know about Sirius and Harry left the room.  Then he opened the letter he himself had received.  He read through it and nodded at Sirius.

"Looks like you're going to Hogwarts," he said.  "Do you need to buy anything at Diagon Alley?"

_::Yes, but I'm not sure about money-:: _said Sirius' voice in his head.  Apparently, he was speaking through Harry.

_::There's that wallet…::  _said Harry.

_::Oh, right::  _Sirius sounded uncomfortable.  Arthur wondered how it was that they came across this 'wallet', before deciding that he probably didn't want to know.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Sirius and Harry trotted at the heels of the Weasley family.  Arthur had told them that he would exchange their muggle money for wizarding coins while the rest of his family went down to their vault.  There was a brief scene during which Ron asked the Goblin whether or not the dogs could come with them down to their vault which had received a vehement refusal from the goblin in question.  That left Harry and Sirius alone with Mr. Weasley, or at least as alone as you could be while inside a busy wizarding bank.

Arthur conversed animatedly with the goblin at the front desk, grumbling about the poor exchange rates.

Harry and Sirius looked around, Sirius in vague interest and Harry with avid curiosity.  It had been years since Harry's one visit to Diagon Alley, and he wanted to see everything.  Suddenly Sirius started, grabbing Harry by the scruff of his neck and throwing him behind a pillar.

_::Sirius!  What-::_ started Harry, confused and slightly peeved at his rough handling.

_::Wormtail is here,:: _said Sirius sharply.  _::We need to go.  Hide somewhere or-::_

_::Sirius, the door right there,::  said Harry, gesturing with his forepaw towards a door that was slightly ajar not ten feet away from where they were.  Unfortunately, in order to get to it they would have to break cover, and risk being seen by one of the few people who knew Sirius' form and would likely not hesitate to use it against him if he could.  Sirius nodded curtly and Harry looked out at the anteroom from behind the pillar.  He saw Peter and blinked in surprise.  The man was __fit.  Nothing at all like the stocky and slightly overweight man who had once taken him to the Dursleys.  He growled and resisted the urge to attack, instead flicking his tail once and rushing towards the door.  He pawed the door open and he went inside quickly, looking back to see if Sirius was coming.  He was, and so were several goblins who had apparently seen them going into one of the doors heading down to the carts._

_::Let's go, Harry,:: said Sirius, grabbing Harry by the collar and wrenching him around.  They ran down the stairway to a place where several empty carts were waiting.  They jumped into one just as it started to move away and crouched, listening to the goblins search for them until they were out of range._

After the cart came to a stop they waited for a moment, listening for footsteps.  Hearing nothing, they started to climb out of the cart just as the light from a lantern showed itself from around the nearest corner.  They ducked back into the cart and hid under one of the seats.  Harry transformed into a cat so as to take up less space.

They sat there, all of their muscles tense, trying to make their breath inaudible, as a goblin and a very large man boarded the cart.  The large man took a seat on top of the one Sirius and Harry were hiding under and it bent from the weight, causing Sirius to gasp and complain mentally that he was being squashed.  Harry looked upwards in a cat imitation of rolling his eyes and told Sirius to be quiet.

The cart began to move and after several rather jarring turns it halted in front of what Sirius recognised to be a very high-security vault.  He mentioned it to Harry, who immediately took it upon himself to see what was so special that it deserved that type of guard.  He jumped up, nimbly avoiding Sirius' grab at him, and looked towards the vault curiously.  He watched the goblin run a long finger down the door to the vault, opening it.  He leaned eagerly forwards to see what was inside but all he saw was a single small, grungy-looking package.  The man looked around furtively before grabbing the package and putting it into one of his many pockets hurriedly, patting it as though he was afraid that it would disappear.  The large man turned towards him and he ducked back under the seat, ignoring Sirius' scolding voice in his head.

The man and the goblin climbed back into the cart and it headed back to the main hall of the bank.  After the two climbed out Harry and Sirius waited a suitable amount of time (making sure to get out _before the cart began moving again) before they followed.  Harry turned back into a dog as they walked along.  They entered the main hall of Gringotts Bank stealthily, Sirius watching for Pettigrew and Harry watching for Mr. Weasley._

Sirius gave a sigh of relief, _::Peter's gone.::_

Harry started, _::What- oh, right.::  He tried to cover up his lapse in attention by searching for Mr. Weasley again but it didn't quite work._

_::What's wrong, Harry?::_

_::Who was that man, down there in the cart?::_

_::Hagrid, the gamekeeper at Hogwarts, or at least that's what he was last time I met him several years ago.::_

_::Oh,:: said Harry.  He was curious as to what Hagrid had taken out of the vault.  It must have been really valuable to need so much security.  He was pulled out of his thoughts when he spotted Mr. Weasley standing nearby._

_::There's Mr. Weasley,::  said Harry just as Sirius said __::There's Arthur.::   They grinned at each other and then trotted over to where Mr. Weasley stood, looking around for the two of them worriedly.  Harry came up behind him and pulled on the back of his robes with his teeth.  Mr. Weasley jumped and turned around._

"There you are," he said, relief rather apparent in his voice.  Harry was surprised, he was worried about them?  "I've been wondering where you got to.  Care to tell?"

_::Later,:: said Harry, __::after we're all done shopping and we're not somewhere so public.  Unless you want __to be seen talking to two dogs as if they could answer back.::_

Mr. Weasley blushed, but proceeded to use more caution after that.  "Here's that money that you wanted exchanged," he said quietly, handing a pouch over to Sirius.  "Quite the amount of money you have there."

Harry evaded the implied question of _how they had come across such means by ignoring it and dragging Sirius off to somewhere where they could change without being seen.  He waved to Mr. Weasley mentally, calling out __::Sorry, lots to buy!:: before he exited the Gringotts building and ducking into the nearest alleyway._

Harry transformed, Otean sliding off his neck.

I wisssh that you would let me transssform more often, Otean complained.

Harry winced, he had been neglecting his friend of late.  It couldn't really be helped, as he rarely left the Weasleys' home, and telling them that he was a Parselmouth was not high on his list of priorities.  But it annoyed _him to not be able to transform into a human on occasion, it must be positively horrid to be stuck as an inanimate object at all times._

I'm sorry, Otean, he said, allowing Otean to drape himself loosely over his shoulders.  Harry turned to Sirius and took off his collar.  Sirius transformed and cast _Finite Incantatem over the collar, turning it back into its proper form of their trunk._

Sirius looked Harry up and down once.  The boy was filthy from weeks without a bath (excluding that splashing fest that had passed for a dog-bath when they had first arrived at the Weasleys) , and he was likely not much better off.  He cast a cleaning charm over them, the equivalent of a shower without the wet, and cleaned their clothes in a similar manner.

Harry grinned and dug in the trunk for a hat.  He needed something to cover his scar.  Sirius cast a charm over himself to give him random hair and eye colouring, ending up with light brown hair and exceedingly strange-looking violet eyes.  He did the same to Harry, who turned out with pale blond hair and black eyes.  Harry caught his reflection in a mirror on the inside of the lid of the trunk and frowned.

"Sirius, I think you need to undo that one.  It looks really fake."

Sirius shrugged and cast another _Finite Incantatem, this time over Harry, restoring his appearance to what it normally was.  Harry jammed the hat over his head, closed the trunk and shrunk it to fit in his pocket.  He and Sirius perused each other, making sure that the disguises were at least enough to get them through a casual inspection._

Sirius looked pointedly at Otean, "He's going to have to hide himself.  It would do no one any good if we were to cause a panic in the middle of Diagon Alley because you're a Parselmouth."  He said it in Spanish, just in case they were overheard.

Did you understand him, Otean?

Yesss, hissed Otean in annoyance, but he slipped inside Harry's jacket without any more protest.

Sirius picked the pouch of money off the ground where he had dropped it.  "Ready?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"Disguises?"

Harry rolled his eyes as Sirius began their old routine of using a verbal checklist, but obliged him all the same.  "Check."

"Trunk?"

"Check."

"Supply list?"

Harry dug in his pocket for the list they had copied from Ron's own that had come with his letter.  He pulled it out and waved it in Sirius' face, "Check.  Can we skip the rest of it, please?"

Sirius merely grinned at his godson's impatience.  Waving towards the street he said, "Be my guest, let's go."

And with that, they strode out into Diagon Alley, the first time for them to do so since the day Harry had received his wand.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

The rest of their day in Diagon Alley went by without further incident, though they did have to dodge Peter once in a while.  While their disguises could probably hold up under the eyes of strangers, they weren't going to risk themselves being seen and recognised by any of the people who had once known Sirius well.

Finally they finished picking up all of the supplies that Harry would need for his stay at Hogwarts.  They had even picked up robes since they would be far less conspicuous than their muggle clothing.

Harry spotted Mr. Weasley and overheard him telling Ron that he was sure that "Scruffy and Blackie" would show up before they had to leave.

"Maybe we should pack up," said Harry, gesturing towards the Weasley family, the youngest of whom were now shouting out the names inscribed on Sirius and Harry's respective dog-tags.  Sirius nodded and they ducked into another alleyway, put their bags in the trunk, turned the trunk back into a collar for Sirius, and transformed.  Otean refused to turn himself back into a collar for Harry unless Harry promised to take him out into the woods later that day so that he could spend a decent amount of time as an animate being, which Harry quickly agreed to.

They rejoined their owners, much to the joy of the youngest children, and Mr. Weasley led their rather large group out of Diagon Alley and into the Leaky Cauldron where they flooed back to the Burrow.  Mrs. Weasley then shooed the children up the stairs to pack their things and set off herself to prepare dinner, leaving Sirius, Harry, and Arthur in relative privacy in the living room(Charlie had gone off nearly a week earlier to an internship with some magizoologists who were currently working with dragons).

Arthur turned to the duo, who had transformed moments before, and asked, "So where did you two disappear to at Gringotts?"

Sirius explained that they had seen Peter and had been afraid of being recognised, so they had ducked into one of the many doors leading out of Gringotts' main hall.

Sirius sat down on a chair, making himself comfortable, "How did Peter become an Auror, anyway?  Before I went to Azkaban he was just an executive in the Goblin Liaison Office."

Harry curled up against Sirius' feet, once again choosing to remain in his dog form, and looked up at Mr. Weasley in interest.  He had been rather curious himself.  Everything Sirius had ever said about Peter had pointed to the supposed fact that he wasn't all that good with magic, and being an Auror required a very good grasp of magic, as well as a good deal of power.

Arthur frowned slightly, "I'm not quite sure, actually.  It seemed that everything was quiet for about a month after Voldemort died when there were suddenly about twenty different attacks almost all at once.  People panicked.  Voldemort was dead so everyone thought that it was all over.  Then the Longbottoms were attacked.  It seems that Death Eaters thought that they could tell them where their master was.  They couldn't, of course, so they were tortured.  According to the reports from the Death Eaters and the Longbottoms themselves, three people showed up and fought with the Death Eaters.  Then two of those people seemed to disappear into thin air and suddenly Peter was the only one left, comforting the Longbottoms' young son and sending a message off to the Ministry so that they could get assistance."  Arthur looked up at the ceiling, brow furrowed as he tried to remember.

"Peter was made to look as though he was the sole saviour of the Longbottoms.  He was given the Order of Merlin, second class, and a chance to become an Auror.   He brought in quite a few Death Eaters on his own, and lately has become quite influential in the Ministry.  He's seen as quite the hero.  In the eyes of the Ministry and the public he can do no wrong.  He's saved enough people and done enough things to make it so that the Ministry will let him get away with anything."

_::So even if Sirius were to get __a trial, it would be hopeless to try to prove that Peter was in the wrong,:: said Harry with a sigh.  As if things weren't bad enough, it seemed that they would have to wait for Peter to make a really big mistake before they had a hope of living normally._

Arthur nodded solemnly, "I'm afraid so."

Sirius sighed and leaned back, massaging the bridge of his nose.  He heard the thumping of feet descending the staircase and transformed.

_::I'm going to go explore the forest for a bit, alright Sirius?:: said Harry into Sirius' mind alone.  Sirius nodded absently and Harry ran out to make good on his promise to Otean._

* * *


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer:  Do you really need to read this every single chapter?

Chapter [0]5

The Hogwarts Express and a Sorting

Harry watched the Weasleys in amusement.  They were to go to Hogwarts today, and there were really only two words one could use to describe the Burrow and its inhabitants at that moment.

Total chaos.

Of course, Ron hadn't quite finished packing, the twins were grabbing some last minute prank items, Percy was searching frantically for his prefect badge (Harry was keeping it under his paw, as he found Percy's behaviour incredibly entertaining), Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were trying in vain to salvage the situation, and Ginny was generally getting underfoot.  The last came into play just as Ron was coming down the stairs with his trunk.  He tripped two steps from the bottom and found himself sprawled on top of his sister with his trunk and its contents strewn about in hopeless disarray.

"Oh, no," Ron moaned.  He just lay there for a few moments as if wondering whether there was really any point in even trying to pack up his things again, then he was forced to move when Ginny yelled that he was squishing her.

About this time the twins decided to come down the stairs with their trunks stacked atop one another, with Fred descending backwards while holding onto the bottom trunk by its handle.  The fact that neither Fred nor George could really see where they were going resulted in Fred tripping over Ron just as Ron was trying to get to his feet, sending them all into a large heap comprised of people, open trunks, and scattered belongings.

Harry snorted.  _They really should put this stuff on the telly_, he thought in amusement, _it's certainly very entertaining_.  He watched them quickly grab their things and stuff them into their respective trunks.  Harry saw several items go into the wrong trunk, but they _were_ siblings after all.  They'd sort out their things when they'd arrived at Hogwarts most likely.

They finished packing just before Mrs. Weasley came in from outside, looking for them.

"Come on, now," she said, "the Knight Bus won't wait forever."

Ron looked surprised, "Why isn't dad driving us?"

"He had to work," said Mrs. Weasley curtly before calling for Sirius and Harry to follow her and levitating the children's trunks out to the bus.  They boarded and endured a rather jolting ride to the station, where no one seemed to notice the violently purple bus.

They walked into Kings' Cross station and were immediately jostled by a crowd of tourists going in the opposite direction.  Mrs. Weasley sighed and said, "The place is packed with Muggles, of course.  If only there were a way to make the place a bit less crowded on the days we have to use it.  Now, what's the platform number?"

"Nine and three-quarters!" said Ginny. "Mum, can't I go…"

"You're not old enough, Ginny, now be quiet.  All right, Percy, you go first, and take one of the dogs with you."

Percy called 'Blackie' to him and strode calmly towards the barrier before vanishing.

"Fred, you next."

"I'm not Fred, I'm George," said the boy who Harry knew to indeed be Fred.  Then again, Mrs. Weasley didn't have the gift of a dog's sense of smell.  "Honestly, woman, you call yourself our mother?  Can't you _tell _I'm George?

"Sorry, George, dear."

"Only joking, I am Fred," he grinned, and then he called 'Scruffy' to him and they went through the barrier.  Harry had no trouble with it, having been told what to do by Sirius.  The rest of the Weasley family came through quickly after that.

The boys loaded their trunks and came back to where their mother and sister were waiting.  Mrs. Weasley hugged the twins and Percy before turning to Ron.  She frowned and took out her handkerchief, "Ron, you've got something on your nose."

Ron tried to jerk out of her way but his mum managed to grab him and began to rub the end of his nose.

"_Mum- _geroff." He wiggled free.

"Aaah, has ickle Ronnie got somefink on his nose?" said George.

"Shut up," muttered Ron, glaring at his brother.

A whistle sounded.

"Hurry up!" said Mrs. Weasley, and the boys clambered onto the train, Percy heading quickly towards the front end where the prefect compartments were.  Ron and the twins leaned out the windows so that their mum could kiss them goodbye, and then the train started to move.  Ginny ran after the train, waving, and they waved back until they were out of sight.

The twins turned to Ron, who was moving towards an empty compartment, "Listen, we're going down to the middle of the train— Lee Jordan's got a giant tarantula down there.

"Right," Ron muttered.  He called the dogs over to him and closed the compartment door before sitting down and looking out the window.  Sirius and Harry settled on the other seat and they just sat there for a few minutes.

_::Sirius?::_

_::Yes?::_

_::I'm bored.::_

Sirius looked over at Harry questioningly, _::And?::_

_::I don't know.  I thought talking might make me less bored.::_

There was silence between the two of them for a moment.

_::You know what would be really fun right now?::  _asked Harry.

_::What?::_

_::Turning into a human and scaring Ron half to death.::_

Sirius looked over at Harry, startled.  _::Harry!  You-::_

Harry grinned widely.  _::I know.  I won't do it.  I just said that it would be fun.  Especially seeing his reaction.::_

Sirius stared at him for a moment longer before sighing and putting his head between his paws.  _::You said that just to get a rise out of me, didn't you?:: _he asked in a long-suffering sort of tone.

_::Yup,:: _said Harry cheerfully.

The compartment door slid open and a young witch, already dressed in her Hogwarts robes, walked in, unnoticed by Ron, who was still looking out the window in a bored fashion.

"Are dogs allowed at Hogwarts?" the girl asked curiously.  "They weren't listed as being acceptable pets on the supply list.  And I didn't know you could have more than one pet."

Ron jumped, startled, and turned to face the newcomer.

"My parents got me special permission to bring them," he said.  "Ron Weasley, by the way."

"Hermione Granger," she replied.  "Have you by any chance seen a toad?  That's what I came here for in the first place.  Another boy, Neville Longbottom, is looking for one."

"No, haven't seen it.  Sorry."

"Oh.  Well, you had better change, I expect that we'll be there soon," and with that she left the compartment, sliding the door shut on her way out.

Ron apparently decided to take Hermione's advice and get his robes on.  He had just finished when a voice echoed throughout the train.

"We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time.  Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."

"Hear that?" said Ron, looking at the two dogs.  "You're going to have to stay here."

Harry whined, but lay down.  The train slowed, then stopped, and Ron left the compartment.  Harry got up and pawed at his godfather's sleeping form.

_::Wha—?  Harry, what is it?::_

_::Let's go.  I don't want to wait to be taken to Hogwarts with the luggage.::_

Sirius grumbled but got up, stretched, and trotted out the door.  Harry followed.  

The platform was mostly deserted aside from a few stragglers, but Harry could still see the first years heading off towards the lake.  Instead of following them, the duo turned towards the path to the carriages.  They sped up as the last student boarded, and broke into an all-out run when the carriages began to move.  Harry shifted into his cat form mid-stride and leapt onto the platform on the carriage that was designed to hold a footman, then scrambled up to the driver's seat.  Sirius joined him a moment later.

Sirius flopped onto his side, panting and muttering about insane godsons.  Harry just grinned, transformed back into a dog with a pop, and settled down for the rest of their journey to Hogwarts.

When they arrived, Sirius and Harry jumped down from their seat and went inside the castle before any of the students had even opened the doors to their carriages.  They strode through the doors and into the Entrance Hall—

—and ran right into someone wearing navy blue robe.

_::This is becoming a rather disconcerting habit,:: _mumbled Sirius.  He and Harry stood up and shook themselves, before looking to see who it was that they had run into _this _time.

It was Albus Dumbledore.

Dumbledore smiled and knelt down to scratch behind Harry's ears.  Harry squirmed, that felt _good.  _Then it stopped.  He whined softly and Dumbledore chuckled.

"So you two are the dogs that young Mr. Weasley is so attached to.   No need to ask which is which."  His eyes surveyed the two dogs, finally coming to rest on the lightning-shaped patch of fur on Harry's forehead.  The all-knowing look in Dumbledore's eyes seemed to increase as they twinkled even more than usual.

Dumbledore stood and bade the duo to follow him.  He walked into the Great Hall and told 'Scruffy' and 'Blackie' to sit at his feet.  Most of the teachers were already in their seats and were somewhat curious as to what two dogs were doing at Hogwarts.  They withheld their questions, however, and the returning students came into the hall, talking and laughing and generally getting reacquainted with each other.  Finally they settled down, and a short professor who looked a bit like a dwarf brought out a four-legged stool with a hat perched atop, and placed it near the Head Table.  Just as the professor moved to sit down, another professor walked into the hall, leading a group of first years.

_::Who's that?:: _asked Harry.

_::Who?  Oh, you mean Professor McGonagall,:: _replied Sirius.

_::Is she the one leading the first years?::_

_::Yeah.::_

The first years stopped just in front of the Head Table, and Professor McGonagall placed the Sorting Hat and the stool in front of them.

The entire hall was staring at the hat, and it twitched.  It twitched again, then it began to sing:

_"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,_

_But don't judge on what you see,_

_I'll eat myself if you can find_

_A smarter hat than me._

_You can keep your bowlers black,_

_Your top hats sleek and tall,_

_For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat_

_And I can cap them all._

_There's nothing hidden in your head_

_The Sorting Hat can't see,_

_So try me on and I will tell you_

_Where you ought to be._

_You might belong in Gryffindor,_

_Where dwell the brave at heart,_

_Their daring nerve and chivalry_

_Set Gryffindors apart;_

_You might belong in Hufflepuff,_

_Where they are just and loyal,_

_Those patient Hufflepuffs are true_

_And unafraid of toil;_

_Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,_

_If you've a ready mind,_

_Where those of wit and learning,_

_Will always find their kind;_

_Or perhaps in Slytherin,_

_You'll make your real friends,_

_Those cunning folk use any means_

_To achieve their ends._

_So put me on! Don't be afraid!_

_And don't get in a flap!_

_You're in safe hands (though I have none)_

_For I'm a thinking cap!"_

The hall burst into applause when the hat finished its song.  The hat bowed to each of the four house tables before once again becoming still.

Professor McGonagall stepped forward holding a roll of parchment.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said.  "Abbott, Hannah!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat.

"Bones, Susan!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Boot, Terry!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

It went on like this for some time.  Mandy Brocklehurst went to Ravenclaw, Lavender Brown to Gryffindor, Millicent Bulstrode to Slytherin, and so on.

"Potter, Harry!"

The hall went dead silent, a sharp contrast to the cheering that had been going on only moments before.  Professor McGonagall blinked once or twice before shaking herself and quickly moving on to the next name.

She called it out, and the child came up to sit on the stool, but the Hat refused to budge from where it was sitting.  Professor McGonagall tried to lift the Hat off the stool, then outright tugged and pulled on it, but it remained immovable.  She turned to the Weasley twins, frowning.

"Now what have you done this time?  Interfering with the Sorting—"

"But professor—"

"We didn't—" the twins interrupted.  They were as much in the dark about this as the rest of the hall.

Harry noticed none of this; his vision had suddenly darkened as if he were under a hood far too large for him— or a hat.  Then a voice spoke in his ear.

"Hmm," said the voice, "what have we here?"  Harry decided that there was a distinct difference between this and his normal telepathic conversations.  Telepathic conversation sounded as though someone was actually inside your mind, which they were, when you thought about it.  The hat, however, sounded like a normal voice would if someone spoke quietly right next to your ear.

"Difficult," the hat continued.  "Very difficult.  Plenty of courage, I see.  Not a bad mind either.  There's talent, oh my goodness, yes— and…  hmm."

_What? _thought Harry, not even bothering to turn his words into proper mind-speech and counting on the hat to pick up his thoughts.

"Quite ambitious, aren't you?"

_Not really, _thought Harry, confused.  He'd never really aspired to be anything, and certainly not anything big enough that he would think of himself as ambitious.

"Oh, but what about your godfather's freedom?  You're quite sure that he deserves what everyone else in this room has.  Even more, actually.  You think that the Ministry owes him a good deal of compensation for what they've put him through."

_Of course they do! _thought Harry furiously.  _They put him in Azkaban without a trial.  They didn't even bother with a questioning!  They just grabbed him and threw him in with the dementors.  All they needed to do was to take ten minutes out of their oh-so-busy lives and give him a truth potion and neither of us would have to deal with any of this nonsense.  I would be standing out there right now, probably headed over to my house table, and Sirius would have a job and a house and would be my _legal_ guardian, instead of us sitting under the table and taking up our noteworthy position as lap-dogs._

The hat chuckled, "I think that I've made my decision."

_Wait, _thought Harry, to himself this time rather than to the hat.  _Ambition… which house- No! not-_

"SLYTHERIN!"

The entire hall started, and stared at the hat.

"The stool's in Slytherin?" said one first year, puzzled.

Several people snorted, trying to hold back their laughter.  Dumbledore chuckled and stood.

"I'm fairly certain that the stool is not in Slytherin,"  he said.  "Now, if our esteemed Professor would continue with the Sorting?"

Professor McGonagall nodded, and read out the name.  The rest of the Sorting was filled with whispers from the students about what had just happened, with very few people actually paying attention to the first years being Sorted.

Meanwhile, Sirius was giving Harry a very pointed look, under which Harry shifted uncomfortably.

_::I think,:: _he said, his voice completely devoid of emotion, _::that we need to have a talk.::_

Harry nodded, then turned back to the Sorting, shooting his godfather apprehensive looks every minute or so.

"Weasley, Ronald!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Harry got up from where he was sitting to go lie down at Ron's feet, Sirius following close behind.  Ron looked down at them in surprise.

"You two are supposed to still be on the train," he said quietly, patting them on the head in turn.  Then Ron turned back to the boys he had been having a conversation with, a Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan.  Harry put up with listening to their conversation about Quidditch for approximately a millisecond before he became bored.  He was also quite hungry, not having eaten since breakfast that morning.  A breakfast that had been small and hurried because of the Weasley family's lack of organization earlier in the day.  Not that he was complaining, it _had _been quite entertaining.

The Hall stopped talking when Albus Dumbledore stood up to make his annual speech.

"Welcome!" he said.  "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts!  Before we begin our banquet I'd like to say a few words.  And here they are; Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!

"Thank you!"

Everyone applauded and began eating when food appeared on the table.  Harry began thinking of how he could get some, preferably in the most conspicuous way possible.

_Hmm, _he thought after he got out from under the table and looked around for a bit, _I wonder if anyone will notice if I eat some of that chicken…._

He walked over to the end of the Gryffindor table nearest the Head table.  There was an empty space right at the end of the table and he jumped into it, teetering precariously on the bench before he caught his balance.  Then he put his paws on the table, barked once to draw attention to himself, and stuck his muzzle into a large bowl of chicken and started munching appreciatively.  Naturally, not everyone was as happy with this situation as he was.

A hand grabbed him by the collar and pulled him rather forcefully out of the dish (Harry took a piece of chicken with him, of course).

"_Who _does this dog belong to?" demanded Professor McGonagall from above Harry's head.  Harry looked up at her, chewing on his chicken and then dropping the bone on her foot impudently.  The Weasley twins snorted.

Ron raised his hand tentatively, "He's mine, Professor."

"Take him out of the Hall, please.  Make sure that he does not enter it again in the future," she said stiffly, glaring at Harry.  "Any other pets should be removed from the Hall as well."

Ron called Harry and Sirius to him and took them out of the Hall, but not before they witnessed the spectacle of McGonagall tripping on the bone at her feet and falling right smack on her bum.  She stood up, fuming, and shot a potentially deadly glare at Harry before regaining her composure and returning to the staff table, ignoring the snickers from her students.

"Sit," said Ron; the duo sat.  "Stay," and with that, Ron left the two of them sitting just outside the doors to the Great Hall.

_::Cat person,:: _muttered Harry, sending a picture of McGonagall at Sirius along with his words.

Sirius snorted, _::You have no idea.::_

_::What does that mean?:: _asked Harry curiously.

_::You'll find out later, I'm sure.  That is, if she'll allow you in her classroom.::_

Harry winced, he hadn't considered that when he had been planning his prank, _::What does she teach?::_

_::Transfiguration.::_

_:I can't miss transfiguration!:: _cried Harry, slightly panicked.  Charms he could skip, and Defence since his godfather had taught him well beyond a fourth-year level in each.  However, he knew very little transfiguration besides the basics and the Animagus transformation.

_::Perhaps you should have thought of that before you pulled the prank,:: _said Sirius.  _::Everyone thinks that you're a dog, in case you've forgotten, and the teachers are not required to allow you into their classrooms.::_

_::Hypocrite,:: _Harry muttered.

_::I heard that.::_

_::You were meant to.::_

_::Harry, your father and I weren't on the run from the Ministry.  We could afford to draw attention to ourselves.::_

Harry sighed and lay down.  _::I know.  It's not fair though.  You never did anything, and the Ministry never even made an attempt to figure out whether or not they were making a mistake.::_

_::I'm sorry, Harry.::_

_::For what?::_

_::I shouldn't have come and gotten you.  You could have at least had a semi-normal life with the Dursleys—"_

Harry growled and lunged at him, pinning his godfather's larger form beneath him and grabbing his throat between his teeth, his canine body language only made clearer by the words that came with it.

_::Don't _ever _say that.  Did you forget what condition you found me in, Sirius?  You are the best thing that ever happened to my life.  _Ever._  I'm not mad at _you_, I'm mad at the Ministry.  It's not your fault, and dammit, my parents weren't your fault either,:: _he said, correctly guessing Sirius' thoughts.

_::I make a horrible godfather anyway,:: _murmured Sirius as he stood up, easily dislodging Harry from his neck, _::and don't curse::_.

_::You do not!  You're a great godfather,:: _replied Harry, pointedly ignoring the cursing remark.

There was a silence in the Hall before the duo heard Dumbledore begin speaking again.

"Ahem— just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered.  I have a few start-of-term notices to give you.

"First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils.  And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well.

"I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors.

"Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term.  Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch.

"And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death.

"And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!"

At this, Sirius started walking away, idly searching his mind for a room where they could transform.  Harry followed him.

_::You're in Slytherin,::_ said Sirius after a long silence.  

Harry stiffened beside him and said, _::It wasn't my first choice.::_

_::Really,::_ said Sirius, his voice emotionless in a way that Harry found very uncomfortable, _::then why were you put there?::_

_::The hat said I was ambitious because of how I felt about what the Ministry has put us_—_ you_—_ through.::_

Sirius spotted a familiar corridor, which he knew branched into a secret passageway. He trotted through, opened the door to a small room, and ushered Harry inside, where they both transformed.

Sirius frowned at Harry's earlier statement, "I don't think that that would be enough to put you in Slytherin, Harry."

Harry stretched, his back popping loudly much to Sirius' distaste, and replied, "Probably not, but that's all the reason it gave me.  If it makes you feel any better, it also said I was courageous and had a good mind, so Gryffindor and Ravenclaw were apparently in the running as well."

Sirius made a noncommittal noise in the back of his throat, "We had better go.  I imagine that Ron is looking for us."

Harry sighed.  Oh well, he couldn't really expect his godfather to accept his being sorted into the "bastard house" Slytherin right away.  He transformed and followed his godfather out the door. 

* * *


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

A Potions Lesson and a Wizards' Pact

Harry stretched and uncurled himself from around Ron's feet, where he had been sleeping.  He yawned and hopped off the bed, stepping on his sleeping godfather.

Sirius opened his eyes and glared at Harry, _::Harry-::_

_::Yes?:: _Harry replied in a mock-innocent voice.  This was Sirius' traditional wake-up call.  Harry would wake first and purposely tread on his godfather.  Sirius would grumble a bit and then go back to sleep.

Harry looked around the dorm and saw that everyone was still asleep, including his godfather who had already dozed off again.  Harry transformed into his human self so that he could open the door to the dormitory, then transformed back into a dog and left.  The portrait hole was simpler.  All he had to do was nudge it with his paw and it opened.  Harry grinned, it was time to explore.

First he went to the secret room that Sirius had shown him yesterday and dug around in the trunk.  Sirius had left it there the night before, after turning a couple spare socks into new collars for them both.  Otean had expressed a desire to explore Hogwarts on his own, and Harry had agreed, warning the snake to be wary of the cats roaming the school.  Otean had merely given Harry a contemptuous look, replied that he could deal with any cats that dared cause him trouble, and slithered off.

Harry grabbed a set of black robes, surprised to find a Slytherin badge added to the front.  _Oh well, _he thought, _at least if someone sees me I can just pass myself off as an ordinary student they haven't met before._  This would be made easier by the fact that he had gotten his hair cut so that his bangs now covered his scar.

He transformed into a cat and left the room.  He wandered the halls until breakfast, at which point he went into the hall and hopped onto the table.  He was quite a bit more discreet this time, and merely grabbed several pieces of bacon before exiting the hall.  He headed back up to Gryffindor tower, transforming back into a dog as he went, making sure that no people, ghosts, or portraits saw his transformation.

"There you are!" cried Ron, just as Harry reached the entrance to Gryffindor tower.  Harry looked up and saw that Ron had just exited, accompanied by his dorm mates Neville, Seamus, and Dean, as well as Sirius.  "Come on, we're going to breakfast."

_::Where have you been?:: _asked Sirius.

_::Exploring.::_

_::How many times did you get lost?:: _Sirius asked, smirking mentally.

_::er…::_

_::How many?::_

_::About five times, I think.  I ran into Mrs. Norris once or twice as well.  She's actually rather nice.::_

Sirius looked at him, aghast.  _::What?!  Mrs. Norris?  The insane cat that belongs to the insane caretaker Filch?::_

Harry snickered slightly, earning himself an odd look from Ron, and replied, _::I was in cat form, Sirius.::_

Sirius was still looking at him as if he had grown _several _heads.  In fact, he looked at Harry for so long that he didn't notice where he was until he ran into a door.

Ron and his friends laughed, then Ron told the two of them to "sit" and "stay" since pets, particularly Harry, were no longer allowed in the Great Hall, owls excepted.

_::Sirius,:: _chided Harry mentally, _::you really should watch where you're going.  And if you're really that eager to get to know the door better, I'm sure that we can come up with a better way for you to do it.  Maybe breakfast, or a dinner out perhaps?::_

Sirius, who was nursing a sore head as the doors were quite solid, growled at him, _::Shut up, you.  I suppose you'll be telling me that you think Snape is nice as well.::_

_::The "greasy bastard"?  Hmm, I'll have to meet him before I can pass judgment,:: _Harry replied, grinning widely.

Sirius turned to stare at him for a moment before putting his head in his paws, _::No wonder you're a Slytherin.  You're completely hopeless at grasping the basic Gryffindor sensibilities.  Now, be a good boy and go get me some breakfast.  As a cat,:: _he added when Harry got a rather mischievous look in his eye.

_::Aw, you're no fun,:: _and before the former Marauder could reply to that he transformed into a cat and ducked into the Great Hall.

He followed the pattern that he had earlier and grabbed a dozen slices of bacon, and a slice of toast this time.  Making sure that no one saw a cat with its mouth full of breakfast food, he slipped out the door and deposited it in front of Sirius.

_::None for you?:: _asked Sirius, chewing on the toast.

_::I ate earlier.::_

Sirius nodded and finished the food in front of him.  _::I think that we're going to have to start using the kitchen instead of the Great Hall.::_

Harry nodded, _::Unless you _want_ to eat that dog food that Ron has packed in his trunk.::  _They both made a face.  Processed dog food, even the wizard sort, was not exactly the most appetising thing in the world.

Several minutes of idle chatter later, Ron and his friends came out and they headed to Charms.

Every class was different, and every teacher even more so.  Professor Flitwick was a tiny wizard who had to stand on a pile of books to see over his desk.  Professor McGonagall was very strict and the only way Harry managed to get into the classrooms was to sneak in when she was busy.   Professor Binns was extremely boring and Harry quickly decided that he would learn any history he needed in the Library, where the driest textbooks would likely still be more entertaining.  Herbology was three times a week, but Harry was not allowed to attend, as "the animal" would likely chew on something poisonous, at least according to Professor Sprout.  Astronomy was another course that Harry decided not to attend.  Of course, this made perfectly good sense as it would be rather difficult for a dog to look through a telescope.  Professor Quirrel, teaching the Defence class, was little more than a joke.  Harry had to leave the classroom almost immediately as the smell that permeated the area made him sneeze almost constantly.

On Friday Harry and Sirius went through what was quickly becoming a routine.  Harry would wake and explore, then meet Sirius just as Ron came out of the portrait hole.  While Ron was at breakfast the duo would run down to the kitchen and beg some food off the house elves, who were only too pleased to spoil their "masters'" pets rotten.  Then the two of them would head back up to the entrance to the Great Hall to wait for Ron to come out and lead them to classes.  Usually Harry was the only one to actually attend the classes, as Sirius insisted that going through school once was plenty for him.  Often, however, Harry would head off to the library if he had free time or if he found that he already knew the material being taught in class.  Sneaking past Madam Pince was sometimes complicated, but he usually managed it.  He also took the risk of turning back into his human form, as the library was almost always deserted.  So as long as he stayed out of Madam Pince's sight, his secret was safe and he could study to his heart's content.

The difference about Friday was that this would be Ron's first Potions lesson.  Though Sirius adamantly refused to go near Snape or anything to do with Snape with a ten-foot staff, Harry was rather looking forward to it.  After all of the stories he had heard about "the greasy bastard," he was interested in finding out how much of it was actually true.  After all, Sirius was nothing if not biased against Slytherins, and Snape was head of house.

Harry strode behind Ron as he entered the Potions dungeon.  Ron sat at a desk  towards the back of the room with his friends, the first-year Gryffindor girls joining them as well, except for one girl.  Hermione Granger was sitting in the very front of the classroom, as was usual.  Harry, deciding that it would be a very bad idea to accidentally add Animagus fur to whatever potion they might brew today, settled himself in a dark corner near the door to watch unseen.

The Slytherins came in a few moments later, and sat themselves in the empty seats that the Gryffindors had left, talking animatedly, though with slightly lower volume than their Gryffindor counterparts.  All conversation ceased when the door opened, hitting the wall with a bang.

All the students stared, wide eyed, as Professor Snape made his way to the front of the room, robes billowing menacingly around him.  Professor Snape sat at his desk and gave a cursory glance around the room.  His eyes landed on Harry and they narrowed, but he said nothing and turned his attention to a roll of parchment on his desk.  He took roll call, sneering at the name Weasley, then turned his gaze back to the class.

"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making," he said quietly.  "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic.  I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses….  I can teach you to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death —  if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."

The class remained silent, most of them had raised eyebrows at this little speech.  Hermione, of course, was on the edge of her seat in her eagerness to prove that she wasn't a dunderhead.

"Weasley!" said Snape suddenly.  "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Ron blinked in surprise a replied, "I don't know, sir."

Snape sneered, "Lets try again.  Longbottom, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"

Neville looked absolutely clueless, and quite frightened, "I d-d-don't know, s-sir."

Some of the Slytherins were shaking with suppressed laughter now.  Harry didn't know why, they probably didn't know the answers either.  In fact, the only person who acted like they actually knew the answer was Hermione, who was raising her hand as high in the air as she could, without actually leaving her seat.

"I suppose that none of you thought you would open a book before you came here?  What is the difference, Finnigan, between monkshood and wolfsbane?"

Seamus looked stumped, and Hermione actually stood up with her hand still raised towards the ceiling.  "I don't know, sir."

"Sit down," Snape snapped at Hermione, who was standing up with her hand raised, desperate to answer the question.  "For your information, asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the Draught of Living Death.  A bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat that will save you from most poisons.  As for monkshood and wolfsbane, they are the same plant, which also goes by the name of aconite.  Well?  Why aren't you all copying that down?"

There was a sudden rummaging for quills and parchment.  Over the noise, Snape said, "And a point will be taken from Gryffindor House for your cheek, Finnigan."

Things didn't improve for the Gryffindors as the lesson continued.  Snape paired the students up and put them to work on a simple potion to cure boils.  He swooped around the room, bat-like with his billowing robes, and criticised everyone except for Draco Malfoy, whom he seemed to like.  He was just beginning to praise Malfoy when a loud hissing filled the classroom.  Neville had somehow managed to melt Seamus' cauldron and their potion had spilled off the table and was now seeping across the floor.  Harry quickly moved to the other side of the classroom, where he wouldn't be touched by the potion.  The rest of the class were already standing on their stools.  Neville, however, was not quite so fortunate as Harry and the rest, as he had been soaked in the potion when the cauldron collapsed and was now covered in painful red boils.

"Idiot boy!" snarled Snape, clearing the spilled potion away with one wave of his wand.  "I suppose you added the porcupine quills before taking the cauldron off the fire?"

Neville whimpered as boils popped up all over his nose.

"Take him up to the hospital wing," Snape spat at Seamus.  Then he rounded on Ron and Dean, who had been working at the desk next to them.

"You, why didn't you tell him not to add the quills?  Thought he'd make you look good if he got it wrong, did you?  That's another point from Gryffindor."

Seamus opened his mouth to argue, but Ron elbowed him behind their cauldron.

"Don't push it," he whispered, "I've heard Snape can turn very nasty."

"Even more nasty that he already is?" whispered Seamus, rubbing his stomach where Ron had hit him.

Ron just shook his head and turned back to his work.  Eventually, the lesson ended and the students left.  The Gryffindors climbed the steps, talking quietly, mostly about how unfair Snape was.  Harry, deciding that this was a rather boring thing to have to listen to, headed towards the library.  He wanted to look up some potions information.  After all, it would be nice to know _why_ the porcupine quills had had such an effect.  If he knew that, he would be able to watch for similar mistakes in the future.

He walked into the Library using a secret passage Sirius had shown him the day before, which came out on the exact opposite end of the Library from the authorised entrance.  He looked around, making sure that there was no one nearby, then transformed.

Only to find a wand pressed to his neck not moments later.  Harry stiffened, but knew better than to move.

"Who are you?" asked whoever was behind him.  _Male, _thought Harry, _and he hasn't gone through his voice change yet._  It also wasn't one of the Gryffindor first year boys, since he would have recognised their voice if it had been.

"Why should I tell you?" asked Harry softly.

"Because I'm sure that the Professors would be very interested in hearing about a boy who's an Animagus being disguised as that Weasley's pet."

Harry cursed mentally, and said the first name that came to mind, "Er, Evan Blakelock."  Harry felt a hand on his shoulder and turned around as was apparently implied.

He came face to face with none other than Draco Malfoy.  Well, face to chin, as Harry was a good bit shorter than Malfoy was.  Something that looked like shock flickered in Draco's eyes but Harry ignored it.  Harry took a step back, standing that close to someone was very uncomfortable.  Draco made a move to grab at him again, but Harry stopped him.

"I won't run off."

Draco looked disbelieving, but nodded, "Why don't we sit?  I have some questions and you aren't leaving until you answer them."

"What's to prevent me from leaving?  You're a first year.  I doubt that you can do much with that wand you're holding."

Draco glared, "My offer to tell the Professors about you still stands of course, if that's what you'd prefer."

Harry glared back, but sat at one of the tables set up for studying in this area of the Library.  Draco sat across from him.

"Ask away, oh great one," said Harry.

Draco raised his eyebrows, "Cute, Potter.  Sarcasm, how becoming of the boy-who-lived."

Harry jumped out of his seat, ready to run, "How did you know who I was?!"

"Quiet down!  Unless you want Madam Pince to come over here, you twit," hissed Draco.  "And your scar's showing if you must know."

Harry flattened the hair over his forehead and sat on the edge of his seat, looking at Draco apprehensively.  "So, you caught me.  Going to turn me in?  I'm sure that there would be a reward for turning in the Boy-who-lived to the Ministry."

"No," said Draco.  Harry looked at him in surprise.  "There is nothing that I would gain from turning you in," he explained simply.  "There be even if I gave them Sirius Black.  I suppose that your godfather is the other dog of Weasley's?"

Harry nodded again, "What do you want then?"

"Er," Draco faltered, searching his mind for something that would be a suitable trade,  After a few moments he came to a decision, "Teach me."

"Teach you what?"

"To be an Animagus.  I don't believe that rubbish about your godfather teaching you the Dark Arts.  Father told me that Black wasn't even a Death Eater."

"And how would he know that?"

"Why, he was one, of course."  Harry raised an eyebrow at Draco's apparent openness on the subject.  "You won't tell anyone.  Not if it risks you and your godfather being caught.  Besides, lots of people already suspect.  You won't be saying anything new."

Harry shrugged, "Not everyone can becoming an Animagus, you know."

"Yes, I know.  So if it turns out that I can't, we'll just have to come up with a new reason for me to keep your secret."

Harry smiled slightly, this was business as he could understand it.  "Fine.  Wizards pact though, I don't trust you."

Draco smirked, "I can see that you were sorted into the right house, Potter.  Wizards' pact it is then."  He dragged the sharp end of his wand brutally over his hand. "I won't tell anyone the truth about your identity in exchange for you teaching me to become an Animagus," he said and held out his hand.

Harry nodded and repeated the gesture, "I will teach you to become an Animagus so long as you don't reveal my true identity."  They clasped their bleeding palms together and their hands glowed blue for a moment.  They pulled back and their hands had healed, leaving only a pale, oddly shaped mark.  Shaped like a star touching a crescent moon, the sign of a Wizard's Pact.  It would disappear only when both of them decided that the pact was no longer necessary for whatever reasons, or if one of them didn't uphold their end of the bargain.  If Draco told, Harry would have sufficient warning to get out of the castle and as far away as possible.  Fair deal, in his opinion.

"So," said Harry, "when do you want to start?"

"Tonight, after dinner.  I'll meet you by the Potions room."

Harry nodded and transformed back into a dog, he ducked back into the secret passage while Draco took the regular exit.  It was time for lunch.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Gryffindors had afternoons free on Fridays, which meant that Harry had plenty of free time.  He spent some of it gathering the ingredients he needed for the Animagus potion.  He got some from the Potions classroom, and one or two from Snape's private stores.  

He completed his task and made his way back into the secret room where Sirius had stored their trunk.  He took out his cauldron and set up the ingredients, going over the process in his mind and making sure that he remembered the steps well enough not to poison Draco.  Turned out that he didn't and ended up pulling out the book that had aided Sirius in preparing the potion for Harry's own transformation.

Harry checked his watch, he still had three hours before dinner.  He shrugged, he might as well begin brewing the potion, as it took eight hours to complete.  There was also a rather convenient time in the middle of brewing where he would have to let it sit for two hours.  That would give him enough time to eat dinner, meet Malfoy, and get him back up here with plenty of time to explain to Malfoy exactly what the first transformation entailed.

_Well, _he thought, _time to get to work._

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Nearly three hours later Harry slumped back against the wall.  Merlin, this potion was complicated.  He vainly wished that he had more of a working knowledge of potions.  No use, of course.  Thankfully, he had managed to follow the directions exactly, and the potion was the proper colour and consistency.  Now he had a two hour break before he had to do the other half of the brewing.  He wasn't particularly looking forward to it.  However, the potion was the best tool to use in teaching Draco to become an Animagus and he didn't want to have to brew it twice because he mussed up the first attempt.  He mopped his forehead.  The first half had required some fairly intense heat.  Thankfully, the second half wouldn't need flame at all, so he wouldn't have to keep recasting _Incendio_ for the rest of the potion brewing.

Casting a last glance at the potion, he transformed and made his way to the kitchens.  He got some food from the overeager house-elves and headed back up to the dining hall, near which was the path to the dungeons and Snape's classroom.  Draco wasn't there yet so Harry settled down to wait.

Harry was just about to fall asleep from boredom when he heard footsteps coming down the hallway.  He looked up and saw Draco coming towards him.  Harry got up and began walking in the direction that would take them to the room where the potion was; Draco followed, memorizing the path so that he would be able to find the room on his own.

They arrived and Harry immediately strode over to check the potion.  Looking in the book he surmised that he had a half-hour before he would need to begin brewing again.

"What's that for?" asked Draco curiously.

"It's a potion that will let you transform into your animal for about five minutes.  It makes it easier to learn how to transform."

Draco nodded and looked around for a place to sit, finally settling himself down atop Harry's trunk.  "How much longer will it take to finish?"

"Roughly three and a half hours."

Draco sputtered, "Three and a half _hours!_  I-"

Harry turned to him angrily, "Yes, Draco, three and a half hours.  If that's not to your liking then you could always do without.  However, I spent a good four hours gathering ingredients and brewing the first half of the potion so I'd hope that you would deign to use it without too much complaining."

Draco looked surprised, "Fine then.  I'll use the bloody potion.  I'd just like to know what I'm supposed to be doing in the meantime, _Harry._  I doubt that your conversation is enough to keep me entertained for three hours."

Harry rolled his eyes, "Brat," he mumbled under his breath.  "Here," he said, tossing the book with the Animagus potion instructions in it over to Draco, "Read the first two chapters.  It'll tell you some of what you'll be getting into as an Animagus, and some directions about what you're supposed to do when you first transform."  Harry didn't need the book now anyway.  He'd read over the potion's instructions so many times that he could probably recite them in his sleep.

Draco caught the book and settled down on the floor, leaning against the trunk.  He still didn't look very happy about the apparent delay before he could learn, but was silent in favour of reading.  He looked surprised when he came across some of the information, and slightly apprehensive when he read over the risks of the Animagus transformation.  When he finished, he looked up to see that Harry was bent over the potion, stirring and measuring meticulously and muttering things under his breath.  Thinking that it would probably be a bad idea to interrupt Harry now, he settled himself into a more comfortable position and began reading some of the later chapters in the book.

"Finished," Harry finally announced, looking quite pleased with himself.  The potion was the proper shade of blue and everything had gone perfectly during the brewing.  Draco looked up and closed the book.

"It's about time," Draco muttered.

"Do you remember what you're supposed to do?"

Draco looked at Harry in annoyance, "Yes, I remember.  I need to pay attention to the feeling of the transformation and try not to let the animal instincts take control.  Simple.  Now, can I take the potion?"

Harry rolled his eyes and handed over a goblet filled with the potion, "Here."

Draco raised an eyebrow, "I'll be sure to work on that in the future," he said sarcastically before downing to potion in one gulp.

Harry watched as Draco transformed, interested in what the Slytherin would become.  He got his answer a moment later when grey eyes looked up at him out of the face of a very light coloured snow leopard.  Draco's form was quite stunning, actually.  Snow white fur with the traditional markings in a shade that was only a hair darker than the rest of his fur.  Draco swished his long tail and purred, extending and retracting his claws just for the heck of it.  He padded around the room once before coming back over to Harry and transforming back.

Draco looked at Harry, elated, "What was I?"

Harry grinned,  Draco was flushed with excitement and joy at having transformed.  Harry remembered the heady feeling of being an animal for the first time.  Nothing could really compare to it.  It was a feeling of power, of being able to do things that would normally be impossible.  "You were a cat, a snow leopard I think.  Pure white with really pale markings."

Draco was positively bouncing in excitement, "When can I do that again?  How long does it take to learn how to transform?  When can we start?  What-" he stopped his rapid-fire questioning when Harry started laughing.

"What's so funny?" he asked, trying to glare, but this was made rather difficult by the large grin still spread over his face.  Harry just shook his head and kept laughing, so Draco leaned against the wall to wait it out, still smiling.

Harry finally got a hold of himself and quieted.  He thought back on when Sirius had taught him to be an Animagus.  Draco, however, was just a normal Animagus.  It would probably take a good deal more time before he could transform as proficiently as Harry.

"You remember what it felt like to transform, right?" he asked.  Draco nodded.  "Focus on that feeling and what it felt like to be a cat."

Draco closed his eyes, face forming into a look of concentration.  Slowly, fur started to sprout over his body as his robes melted into it.  Then he grew a tail and his ears adjusted to look like those of his animal form.  This took roughly five minutes at which point Draco opened his eyes and looked towards Harry before examining his blunted and furred fingers.

"Er, Draco?"  asked Harry.

"Yeah?"

"Catch," and Harry tossed over a small blanket.  Draco looked at it and Harry in confusion.  "Cover yourself."  Draco looked down and blushed furiously, which appeared as a faint pink tinge in the sparser areas of fur.  The process of Draco's robes melting into his body had left him rather… exposed.  Harry snickered as Draco hastily wrapped the blanket around his torso.

"It's not funny," muttered Draco, embarrassed.  Then something occurred to him, "Will I still be able to do this when I'm a full Animagus?"

"Do what?"

"This… partial transformation."

Harry opened his mouth to speak, then shut it.  "I- I don't know actually.  I don't think anyone has ever tried to before.  I'd imagine that once someone was an Animagus they'd be perfectly content with transforming completely.  That and it could be dangerous if you transform into something much bigger or smaller than your human form.  Say that you transform into a dragon and lost control and only your head transformed.  Your body would be completely crushed.  Or if your form is a bird and only your legs transform."

Draco looked puzzled, "Then how is it that the  beginning stages are always partial transformations?  Wouldn't it be just as dangerous?"

Harry shook his head, "The book says in one of the later chapters that your body adjusts to the transformation in a certain order."

Draco nodded, "I remember now.  I read that chapter.  It said something like everyone's body does things in a different order, as well as a different speed.  In rare cases the person's body has a dangerous order and something like what you said before happens to them."

Harry nodded, rather absently, "I could try…"  Of course, since he was a Minor, he had never actually done a partial transformation so it might be a bit tricky.  Draco looked interested, however, so he decided to give it a shot.

Harry concentrated on just the way it felt to grow a tail, nothing else, with fur sprouting only on the tail.  He opened his eyes some moments later and looked behind him.  Sure enough, there was a tail.  Harry grinned, "It works!"

Draco grinned as well, "Can you imagine what the reactions would be if we walked into the Great hall with tails?"

Harry raised his eyebrows, "Well, if they looked at me, there would likely be widespread panic since a "future Dark Lord" would have just walked in.  With you though…  McGonagall would likely go nuts trying to figure out exactly what you had done, give you a detention, then pass out because she had hyperventilated too much.  Dumbledore would just laugh, all the students would stare and think that someone had pulled a prank on you, and the rest of the teachers would be busy toting McGonagall off to the hospital wing."

Draco looked slightly sheepish about forgetting that Harry was in hiding, but got over it quickly, "When you're free then.  It'll be one of the first things we do.  I'll have to get registered first though, I heard the fines are rather extreme."

Harry grinned and nodded, "It sounds like a plan, Draco.  First, though, you have to finish becoming a proper Animagus."

"And how would I go about doing that?"

"Well, first," said Harry with a smirk, "you have to change back."  Draco rolled his eyes, but focused on changing back, making sure that the blanket wasn't pulled into his body like his robes had been.  Harry got rid of his tail and sat down.  Checking his watch, Harry raised his eyebrows.

"Almost curfew, you had better go," he said to Draco when he had finished transforming.  Draco nodded.

"Same time tomorrow?" Draco asked.

"Same time tomorrow," Harry confirmed with a nod.

* * *


	7. Chapter Seven sorta

Chapter 7 Author's summary/notes

Okay, here's what happened during what would have been chapter seven (my muses (even after what, three months, four?) still refuse to give me an indication of how to write this chapter).

Flying lessons-  Harry tags along.  Neville ends up falling off of his broom, and Draco snags the remembrall (sp?) and in response to Ron's "give it back, Malfoy" he tosses it as high into the air, and as far away as he can.  Harry, pulling off the perfect "doggy" act, can't resist the temptation of a game of fetch.  And, being the "good" dog that he is, he doesn't take the ball back to those that are calling him, but rather to the person who threw it in the first place, namely Draco.  Thus begins the game of fetch, which abruptly ends when the teachers arrive back.  (note- I might not have actually included that in the final draft of the chapter, but since it was on my outline, I thought I'd mention it).  (note2- The ball is glass.  Harry uses telekinesis to soften the things landing, so that it doesn't shatter in his mouth)

Time passes

Halloween- Draco has gotten to the point where he can do the complete transformation, but it takes him about a minute to get all the way through it (though this would have been mentioned in passing, rather than having any real plot significance).  The Troll Incident- Harry, of course, overhears some mutters about Hermione crying in the girls toilet, but brushes it off (like in canon).  He ends up outside the door of the Great Hall during the feast (Ron seems to like having him there rather than leaving him in the dorms), and witnesses the whole Quirrel screaming fit/act.  Realising that Hermione is in the toilet still and doesn't know about the troll, he goes after her, along with the one person he can inform without giving away his humanity, Draco.  They go, find the troll in the bathroom, fight it, etc.  Hermione faints, Harry transforms and beats the troll, Draco… I'm not sure what Draco would have done ^_^.  It was one of those things that I was hoping would work itself out as I wrote.  Obviously, that didn't work.

Hmm…  That's all the stuff I really had plotted out.

Here's the plan.  I'm going to give up on this chapter, and start on chapter eight (and considering the amount of inspiration I've been having for later parts of this fic, it shouldn't take too long).  I'll try to fill this in with a real chapter later, or if someone else would like to take a shot at writing it for me, then contact me and I'll be most grateful.

To give you an idea of where this is going (so, yes, I will be continuing the fic.), I have first year plotted out, and most of second (and second year is where it really starts to diverge from canon, if it hasn't enough already), and I have vague-ish plans for third and fourth.  Next chapter will have to deal with Christmas, the detention in the forest, and Norbert (I hope…).

**pwestm1- **Planning on it, and thanks.

**Rachemeister- **Thanks!

Mrs. Moony- Thanks!  Heh, sorry about the long wait.  Sirius gets over it.  I'm writing, really, just a bit slowly… 

**Fireangle- ****grin**  Thanks!  I thought that I'd said that Harry's dog form's age corresponded with his human age.  Oh well.

**Nagini- **here's more (sorta), sorry for the delay.

**Moonlight- **I'm glad you like the story, despite Harry's house.  And Dumbledore does know, he's just content to let Harry and Sirius be, for now.

**Mrs. Moony- **Er, "how often will you be updating?" More often than I have lately, I promise.

**Bill Weasley- **Thanks!  **wince**  So much for posting regularly though.  Sorry 'bout that.

**Badger Lord- **Thanks!  **grins**  Ah yes, **taps nose knowingly**  The stool is in Slytherin.  It's very cunning and ambitious.  It has great aspirations to becoming a chair.  No, really, I'm glad you thought it was funny.

**Fireangle-  **Thanks, so much for soon though.

**Caspian- **You seem to be cut off a bit short there.  Thanks, glad you like the story.

**Scrat- **Well he's not really a good guy, and he's not really Harry's friend, per se.  They have a… working relationship based on blackmail at this point.  And Sirius isn't too mad, just rather put out.

**rainyday88- ****Wince**  Sorry for the delay.

**Judy- **Thanks.  I'm sorry to hear that you disapprove of Harry's house, though I'm not quite sure why everyone seems to think that Harry and Draco are "close friends".  They're not.  They're amenable to each other, and Draco's blackmailing him.  Thanks for advertising for me.

**PR LUCKEN- **Yes, they'll be friends eventually.  Draco's not a "good guy" yet, and he may never be.  But he gets along with Harry fairly well.  As for slash  ^_^, no.  Maybe when I still liked HP/DM I would have, but now? No.

**Lucerito-del-alba- **Okay, you're completely entitled to your opinion, but I may come off a tad hostile in replying to your views.

1- Harry isn't remaining as a dog all of the time.  Just most of it.  And why couldn't he?  Sirius does it in canon.

2- I never said that Dumbledore _didn't _know.  In fact, I felt that I implied fairly well that he _does _know.

3- Okay, this one was offensive.  I am the author, it is my fic, I am a Slytherin, and damned if I felt like it!  Now, I could go into my reasoning in detail, as well as the reasons that I rejected the other houses, but the way you worded that question was rude and I feel no obligation to be polite in return.

4- They are not friends (yet).  Draco is blackmailing Harry.  They merely don't feel the need to be unduly antagonistic towards each other.  I'm sorry if this wasn't clear from the text.

**Naomi SliverWolf- **Thanks!  Here's the next chapter, sorry for the wait.

**Hermione Potter- **Thanks.  **shrug**  I like Slyth!Harry.

**Rachel A. Prongs- **Soooo sorry about the wait

**Lady Phoenix Gryffindor-  **Thanks, here's chapter seven (well, a sort of chapter seven…).  Not exactly soon, though…

**Helen- **Here's an update (of sorts, and hardly what I think people were hoping for).

**Maria- **Thanks.

**(blank/anonymous)- **Thanks.

**Stormyfire- **thanks.


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